Sabotage of Sith's Revenge
by sazza-da-vampire
Summary: The Force has found its shatterpoint: Master Kenobi. In a world where both Yoda and Obi-Wan died, there is no hope. Furious at being solely under the control of Sidious, the Force takes fate into its own hands, sending Kenobi back in time. AU Timetravel
1. Prologue

_**Author's Notes**_

Hey guys. Welcome to my mammoth fic. I've worked on this since uni finished for the year, and am finally pleased with the result. Complete, this story is 14 chapters and about 24 000 words, and will be updated regularly. I don't know if I'll continue with a sequel. This will depend on reader responses.

I'm quite proud of this, as it's the longest fic I've written, and has (what I hope is) a solid plotline and developed characters.

Please note, while reviews can and will prompt me to revise the story, I _have already finished_ writing it, and so I won't be changing plotlines or characterisation.

Also, please note that this is a timetravel AU, and though Obi-Wan's 'original universe' parallels almost exactly with canon, his 'new reality' is changed dramatically by his decisions and actions.

Discalimer: If I owned Star Wars, Obi-Wan would have all the screen time, Siri and Bant would appear in the films, Sabé would be a main character, and Anakin wouldn't fall to the Dark side. Quite obviously, I do not own Star Wars.

_**Prologue**_

Obi-Wan approached Padmé's space cruiser, and her prone body, with a defeated air about him. Despite his victory against Vader, he felt as if he had failed, as the entire Jedi Order lay beyond any hope of rescue. He checked her wrist for a pulse, and upon finding it weak but present, he attempted to pick up the pregnant woman to take her someplace, anyplace, else.

Obi-Wan had only reached the entryway before he felt sensed the Force screaming at him, signalling great danger. Obi-Wan reached out to identify the source, and found a veritable black hole of dark energy, sucking a void into the fabric of the Force. _Palpatine_, he thought grimly. Nothing but an uncloaked Sith Lord could have such a Force signature. Placing Padmé's body down, Obi-Wan descended the landing ramp, drawing his lightsaber in preparation to meet the Sith Master.

Obi-Wan moved through the structures of the once-proud facility, with the intention of confronting the Sith Lord in an area free of any damage from his battle with Ana-_Vader_. Obi-Wan stopped on a raised catwalk when he felt the Sith Lord's presence draw near.

"Master Kenobi," a mocking voice called from the shadows. "I see that you are still alive. How … fortunate," Sidious said, his tone making it clear that he thought Kenobi's continued survival anything but fortunate.

"Sidious," Obi-Wan hissed. "How did your little talk with Master Yoda go?" As he spoke, he removed the blocks around his mind which masked his Force presence, as the energy required to maintain them would be desperately needed if this came to a lightsaber duel. Sidious betrayed no hint of surprise upon feeling the Master's Force signature, and narrowed his eyes as he replied.

"He wasn't quite the challenge I'd come to expect," Sidious returned, lighting his crimson lightsaber with the all too familiar _snap-hiss_. "I see that you've defeated my apprentice. What will you achieve even if you kill me? The whole Jedi Order is extinct, Yoda is dead, and you, my friend, are the last Jedi standing between me and absolute _power_."

"I stand for what is right, Sidious, and I intend to defeat you, as I have every other enemy I have fought." With this declaration, Obi-Wan raised his lightsaber, ignited it, and suddenly Sidious attacked with a fierce leap and overhead swing of his blood red blade.

Sinking into the familiar Soresu form, Obi-Wan let the Force guide him, striking at any weakness the Sith Master displayed, though those were few and far between. Already exhausted from his fight with Vader, Obi-Wan gave it everything he had, but Sidious had access to unlimited power. The Dark Side gave extra force to all his blows, and the fight was abruptly cut short as Sidious neatly sliced deeply through Obi-Wan's unintentionally exposed neck, attempting a _Sai Cha_, his useless lightsaber slipping from nerveless fingers. Obi-Wan faltered, unable to breathe or move, as Sidious triumphantly grinned, letting the Last Jedi Master fall backwards off the edge of the landing and into the bubbling lava below.

Obi-Wan could feel every nerve in his body screaming as he burned, and his electrocuted heart mercifully stopped beating as he fell, but not soon enough, for he felt the lava close around his body, burning his flesh, and then, finally, mercifully, his consciousness faded away as he accepted his failure, and his death, trusting in the Force.


	2. Sidious' Last Torture

_Disclaimer: Star Wars is the property of Lucasfilm._

_**1. Sidious' Last Torture**_

Obi-Wan suddenly fell to the metal floor, the burning gone, his hands slamming against the durasteel. The floor hummed gently, indicating that he was probably aboard a space ship.

Obi-Wan opened his eyes, and slowly sat up, his fingers unconsciously caressing his throat, finding it intact. There was no-one around other than a single young girl, dressed garishly in red and yellow, who had rushed over to him and was trying to help him to a seat. "Do you need water? Come sit down, you're white, you need some rest. The Master Jedi will be back in a few hours; do you want me to contact him? Do you need food? I'll be right back, don't get up or go anywhere; I'm getting help, food and water."

The whirlwind of a girl was gone a moment later, and Obi-Wan looked around. It didn't appear to be any sort of med lab, nor was it a prison cell, for the doors at either end were wide open. _What then_, Obi-Wan mused. _Sidious…. Somehow, Sidious must have saved me. For his own sick pleasure? To have the Last Jedi Master as some sort of prize? Or did he want to turn the last of the Jedi to the Dark side?_ He certainly respected Master Kenobi's power, but Obi-Wan would sooner die than betray all he'd ever lived for. _Unless he thinks I know something about the whereabouts of other Jedi,_ he wondered.

"I will _never_ betray the Jedi," he defiantly told the empty air. "No matter what you can devise to torture me, Sidious, I will _never_ tell you anything. I didn't survive to be the Last Jedi Master for nothing."

It was clear that Sidious had somehow rescued and healed the Jedi Master, but why, Obi-Wan wondered. He began inspecting his throat with his fingers. Whomever Sidious had employed had reconstructed Obi-Wan's throat with exceedingly realistic results. Obi-Wan couldn't feel any scars, and could breathe easily, as if he'd never had his throat severed almost to the spinal cord. He idly noted that he was clean-shaven, and mourned the loss of his beard for only a moment before letting the feeling vanish into the expanse of the Force.

The strangely clad girl re-entered the room, which Obi-Wan recognised as the engine room of a spaceship, holding a jug and a glass, and another girl followed, clad in a fine dress that whispered importance, carrying a plate of typical space rations.

"The Queen was very worried when she heard you'd collapsed, Padawan Kenobi," the first girl stated as she filled the glass with water and handed it to Obi-Wan. A quick Force test let him know that it was safe to drink, no drugs of any kind, and so drink he did, for it eased the burning headache. _Wait…. Queen?_

_Red and yellow dress, a young girl for a Queen…. _Obi-Wan mused. _This is very similar to something from years ago…. Naboo!_

"Who are you?" Obi-Wan asked gingerly as the young queen handed him a plate of (unappetising) food.

She looked at him strangely, before replying, "I am Queen Amidala. This is Saché, one of my Handmaidens. Do you really not remember us?"

Obi-Wan's mind was running at lightspeed. He stood up, intending to meditate on his suspicions. If they were correct, and Sidious was trying to get him to spill all the secrets of the Last of the Jedi, they would let him have his space to complete the illusion. After all, what was he supposed to think? That he'd been sent back in time? Hardly likely. Usually Sidious' plots were far more subtle than that.

"I'm fine now. Thank you for your help, Lady Saché, your Majesty. There's no harm done."

"Please eat first, Padawan Kenobi. You collapsed after we installed the hyperdrive, and we must ensure your health," the handmaiden, Saché, insisted. "Last time we let you skip a meal Master Qui-Gon lectured Eirtaé and I for an hour, and now you've collapsed. I'm sure you wouldn't want to be responsible for the Master Jedi lecturing the Queen herself on your health," the blonde girl added wryly.

Repressing the urge to roll his eyes, Obi-Wan sat back down, accepted the plate of (unpoisoned) food, and ate under the watchful gaze of two young women. When they were satisfied that he wouldn't starve to death any time soon, they left him in the now empty engine room, and so Obi-Wan settled himself down to meditate.

The Force surprised Obi-Wan with its purity. It wasn't tainted by blood, death and the Sith. It didn't echo with the pained cries of thousands of Jedi Knights, Masters, and children. Obi-Wan let the cleanliness wash over him, and began searching the surrounding area for Sidious' dark presence.

Obi-Wan couldn't feel it.

Sidious wasn't nearby.

And the Force exuded a sense of, almost, _smugness_, as if it had achieved something great.

In the distance, Obi-Wan felt something more disturbing, though. Qui-Gon Jinn's well-known Force signature, accompanied by a clean, untrained, and untainted force signature which reminded Obi-Wan of Anakin before he joined the Sith.

Startled out of meditation, Obi-Wan made his way around the familiar ship, finding all the little details which had become obsolete over the years, or which were not present on the more recent Nubian space cruisers. Finding his way to the refresher on board, Obi-Wan noticed that every last detail was exactly as it had been when he was only twenty five, and the ship had become stranded on Tatooine.

When he looked into the mirror, it took all the self-control he had to not shout out in surprise.

Not even Darth Sidious could make someone appear thirteen years younger.

Yet staring him in the face was his own, Padawan self's reflection. Obi-Wan sat down with a thump.

_So this isn't some joke. I'm actually alive again, in the past. Perhaps I can fix my mistakes? Remove both Darth Maul and Darth Sidious before they kill any more Jedi, and stop the line of the Sith in the process. I'll know what to do to keep Anakin away from the Dark side, and the Jedi Order will continue._

Taking it off his belt, Obi-Wan inspected his lightsaber thoroughly. Superficially it looked identical to most of the lightsabers he'd built during his life, but on closer inspection it was most certainly his second. There were no blueprints, so it couldn't be a replication. It was indeed the very same blue one that he had lost on Naboo, and when Obi-Wan ignited it and swung it around in the limited space of the 'fresher, he noted that its weight was identical. This was all the proof he needed to verify what he'd already concluded – somehow, he had a second chance.

Suddenly Obi-Wan felt something he hadn't experienced in years – the twinge of danger coming down his training bond with Qui-Gon. Rushing to the landing platform, he saw a little boy – Anakin – running through the sand towards the cruiser, while Qui-Gon fenced with a tattooed opponent – Darth Maul. Obi-Wan reached out with the Force, propelling Anakin faster toward the ship, and when Anakin had delivered his message, Obi-Wan rushed off to the pilot.

"Take off. Over there," he pointed to a cloud of dust with flashing lightsabers. "Fly low." Obi-Wan then ran back to the landing deck as the cruiser lifted off.

Qui-Gon did indeed launch himself onto the open landing platform, which began closing the moment one of the handmaidens – Eirtaé? – pressed the button. Obi-Wan resisted the temptation to jump down and finish the Sith apprentice off, as he realised that the ship would be leaving, the pilot following his instructions, not to mention that he would be exposing himself to Sidious unintentionally.

"Are you alright?" Anakin asked as they ran to Qui-Gon.

"I think so," he replied.

"What was it?" Obi-Wan asked, doing his best imitation of his twenty-five year old self.

"I'm not sure," Qui-Gon panted. "But it was well-trained in the Jedi arts. My guess is, it was after the Queen.

"What are we gonna do about it?" Anakin interjected, despite not knowing who the Queen was. Obi-Wan allowed a fond smile to pass his lips as Anakin's old selfless manner surfaced.

"We should be patient. Anakin Skwalker, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Obi-Wan shook Anakin's outstretched hand, and nodded in reply when Anakin said, "Hi. You're a Jedi too? Pleased to meet you." Qui-Gon chuckled, and the pitch of the engines changed as the ship jumped to hyperspace.


	3. To Enter a New World

_Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to Lucasfilm._

_**2a. To Enter a New World**_

_Imagine this, Kit!_ Anakin thought. _Two Jedi!_ But Anakin wouldn't be seeing his friends Kitster or Aimee again. No, Anakin was going to be a Jedi. "Qui-Gon says I'm going to be a Jedi too!"

Qui-Gon started to climb to his feet, and Obi-Wan reached an arm out to Qui-Gon to help him stand up. "Let's get you some food. Anakin, the mess hall is down the hallway. Ask someone to show you where to get some food for you and Master Qui-Gon."

Anakin nodded then made his way down the hall. He found a young woman wearing red and yellow and asked her where the mess hall was after he noticed that the two Jedi were not following him.

"Hi, miss, I'm Anakin. Can you show me where I can find the mess hall? Master Qui-Gon needs to eat," Anakin asked her as politely as he could.

She smiled tenderly down to him. "I'm Eirtaé, one of the Queen's Handmaidens. Come with me and we'll fix you up." Eirtaé chuckled gently as Anakin's stomach growled. "I daresay Master Jinn isn't the only one in need of a meal."

Anakin's face turned pink, and he meekly followed Eirtaé down the hallway.

There were three Handmaidens aboard the ship, Padmé, Eirtaé and Saché. Padmé and Saché, with the Queen Amidala, joined Anakin and Eirtaé for a light lunch once the ship was safely in hyperspace, and Qui-Gon bullied Obi-Wan into joining them.

Qui-Gon seemed troubled by something though, and it wasn't just the identity of the black and red tattooed adversary, even Anakin could tell.

_**2b. Reactions**_

Qui-Gon grasped Obi-Wan's elbow gently as Anakin headed off down the hallway. A second later, he found himself in a headlock with Obi-Wan's deactivated lightsaber at his temple. Obi-Wan held him there for a second, then abruptly let him go, his lightsaber falling to the ground as he helped Qui-Gon back to his feet.

"Sorry, Master, I didn't mean to react like that."

Qui-Gon bent to pick up his apprentice's lightsaber, and offered it back to him. "I just wanted to ask you if you were alright. You looked like you'd seen a ghost when I came aboard."

"I had a vision," Obi-Wan answered shortly. "Saché, one of the handmaidens saw me collapse but I'm alright now. I saw some terrible things."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"I doubt talking will help. It's not going to happen. I won't let it."

"Be careful, my young Padawan. Obsession – even over changing a vision – can lead to the Dark Side."

Obi-Wan looked Qui-Gon in the eye, a chilling glint in his blue eyes. "I know. That's exactly why I can't let my vision come true."

A shiver travelled down Qui-Gon's spine, and he decided it was time to think of something less weighty. "Let's get some food. Duelling always makes me hungry."

"I'll be meditating, Master, I just ate."

"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said sharply. "You're having lunch with us. I have a feeling that Anakin is going to be a large part of our lives, so we should get to know him, don't you think?"

Obi-Wan groaned. Yes, Anakin would be a great part of Obi-Wan's life – that much Qui-Gon could tell accurately. Besides, now was as good a time as any to start changing the future.

"One condition. If the Council lets Anakin be trained, you can be the one to do it. I'm not taking an apprentice the moment I'm Knighted-" Obi-Wan only just bit off the 'again' on the tip of his tongue.

Obi-Wan followed Qui-Gon out of the room, summoning his lightsaber with a single thought and reattaching it to his utility belt, and resigned himself to the fact that, by the time they reached Coruscant, he'd need to spend at least five hours on lightsaber practice to burn up all the extra energy.

_Or_, he mused, _I could spend the time – and energy – on getting Anakin's trust. I have a mission, assuming dying hasn't caused me to go insane, in which case all this is irrelevant. Now's the best time to start it – Anakin's first impression of me will be as a friend and co-conspirator, not a cold, unfeeling threat to his Knighthood._

After all, if Anakin never felt rejected by Obi-Wan, he wouldn't have fallen into the reach of the Sith in the first place.

Obi-Wan resolved to meditate upon the issue, and found a spare room to do so in while Qui-Gon sought out the Queen.

Kneeling down, Obi-Wan reached out, letting the Force fill his mind with its purity.

An hour later, he emerged, feeling much less uncertain about the situation. The Force, it seemed, had a mission for him – to prevent the rise of the Sith, and the subsequent fall of the Jedi. To do this, Obi-Wan had the impression that relationships were the key.

The relationship between Palpatine and Anakin, for example, would have to be nipped in the bud, before Anakin got attached, and before Sidious noticed Anakin's potential.

The relationship between himself and Anakin, in contrast, would have to be much more open, and full of trust, so that the boy would not feel rejected by his Master, and therefore the entire Jedi Order.

Obi-Wan felt the pull of the Living Force, urging him to take life as it came, and simultaneously, the Unifying Force, urging him to plan for the future, and to ensure the success of his missions.

Obi-Wan stood with a new resolve. He would defeat the Sith, alone if need be. But he would also make the most of the little time he was sure he had with these people.

Obi-Wan set off, not to sleep, as had been his original plan, but to introduce himself properly to the Queen, her handmaidens, and her guards. After all, if he was to return to Naboo with them to fight for the planet, they had the right to meet him as a person, rather than a distant Jedi protector.

_**2c. Off-Limits**_

Anakin wandered around the Nubian cruiser, trying to find someone – anyone – he recognised. He'd been unceremoniously kicked out of the cockpit after asking the pilot one too many questions, and so was now trying to find something to do. He'd grown up constantly working, whether it be for Watto, on his droids and variously mechanical projects or just helping his Mum, and now the feeling of boredom was introducing itself to the child.

Anakin heard voices up ahead, and though he couldn't decipher the words through the closed door, he recognised the voice as Padmé's.

Pressing the door chime, Anakin waited to be let in.

A different voice emanated from the room, and this time Anakin could make out the words. "Anakin's at the door. Shall I let him in?"

The door suddenly opened, revealing Obi-Wan on the other side. The twenty-five year old human grinned at the sight of the nine year old. "Well, kid, how would you like to explore the ship?" Anakin peered up at him a little sheepishly.

"Uh… not the bridge. I've been banned from the cockpit. The pilot doesn't like me."

Padmé burst into laughter.


	4. The First Night

_Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to Lucasfilm._

_**3a. Of Plans**_

As Obi-Wan led Anakin through the sublight drives, telling him what each component did and answering Anakin's many questions, he pondered his situation.

_What not to do_, he thought, cataloguing a list in his mind. _Number one, don't keep Anakin at arm's length. He turned to Palpatine because he felt he couldn't turn to you. _

_Number two, under no circumstances get trapped behind that energy ray shield as Qui-Gon gets killed by the Zabrak. Disable or destroy the shield generator. _

_Number three, don't let Palpatine get away with everything. _

_What to do, _he created another list in his mind. _Number one, let Anakin know I'm affectionate. Let him feel as if he can trust me, so he won't be so close to Palpatine. _

_Two, check on those Kaminoan cloners, and find out who really initiated that army. Maybe convince them to make sure the clones have a conscience. That would prevent them being used to massacre the Jedi. _

_Three, kill Sidious. He's the centre of the Clone Wars and the direct cause of the end of the Jedi Order._

_But for now, I'll keep my mind on other things, like not revealing myself, until I can meditate on it all more fully. _

_**3b. Exploration**_

Anakin's grasp of technology surprised Obi-Wan, even though he should have known already. Anakin enthusiastically declared that if he had enough spare time, he'd build his own starfighter.

Once they'd exhausted the possibilities of the sublight drives, Anakin suggested having a look at the newly installed hyperdrive. "It's too dangerous to go poking around when it's in use, Anakin," Obi-Wan chuckled.

"Oh, yeah," Anakin muttered as he turned pink. "I forgot."

"Anything else you'd like a look at?"

Anakin looked around the room for inspiration. His eyes settled on the ceiling. "What are the little grates on the ceiling for? Watto's shop never had holes in the roof," Anakin asked curiously.

"That's the air conditioning. Without it, we'd run out of oxygen on the ship. It takes air out of the room, through a converter where it converts carbon dioxide to oxygen and then another vent – that one over there-" he pointed to the other corner of the room, "takes the clean air back into the ship. There are only small vents in every room and hallway, but I think there are some big ones so we can have a look at the converter," Obi-Wan offered. Anakin jumped at the chance (literally) and begged Obi-Wan to show him the converter.

The pair embarrassed themselves terribly when they fell out of a ceiling vent – the grill wasn't as secure as the rest. The Force sent a warning, but Anakin couldn't understand it and fell with the grate, landing flat on his face in front of Qui-Gon, the Queen, her Handmaidens and a couple of off-duty pilots. Obi-Wan peered over the edge of the exposed vent. "Uh, sorry?" he called down.

"Obi-Wan, get down here," Qui-Gon ordered. Obi-Wan obeyed instinctively, swinging down to land gracefully at his mentor's feet. "What were you two doing up there?"

Looking down to his feet, Obi-Wan muttered something about keeping Anakin out of trouble. Qui-Gon sighed in exasperation. "Why is it always you, Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan looked defiantly into his Master's eyes. "I don't get into trouble, Master. Trouble has a way of following me. Technically, Anakin was the one in trouble. He did fall out of the vent, after all."

Qui-Gon groaned as the three Handmaidens chuckled. One, Padmé, had picked up the little boy and dusted him off. Qui-Gon pointed out the door. "Showers, clean clothes, both of you. Now."

Obi-Wan and Anakin hurriedly left the room, each noticing for the first time just how dusty they were. "Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked tentatively.

"Yes, Obi-Wan?"

"Did you bring any other clothes?"

"Um… no?"

"Ah." They kept walking, and in silence they reached Obi-Wan's cabin. Anakin hovered awkwardly over his shoulder as Obi-Wan riffled through a small bag. The bag's contents soon found themselves strewn across the small room, as Obi-Wan searched for something small enough for Anakin to wear.

Obi-Wan had only one spare set of clothes. He could get away with wearing the cloak again, as he hadn't worn it in the ventilation shafts. The tunic and pants, however, needed to be washed. Obi-Wan set aside his spares, and threw the spare cloak to Anakin. "I usually pack extra clothes, but it seems I only brought one set. We'll cut that down and make something wearable out of it."

Anakin nodded, and the pair headed off to the 'fresher. There were two on board – one for each gender. Obi-Wan sent Anakin in first, ensuring the boy had a towel, with instructions to separate his dusty outer clothes from anything else – as he'd have to wear them again.

Obi-Wan took the spare cloak with him as he searched out a needle, thread and scissors. He ran into a Handmaiden, whom he recognised as Saché from her blonde hair, and she chuckled at his request to help her find sewing materials.

She led Obi-Wan to the quarters assigned to the Queen and her Handmaidens. Standing outside the door as she searched the rooms, Obi-Wan waited patiently. Saché emerged a few minutes later, triumphantly holding a pair of large dress scissors and a spiel of thread with a needle poked into the side. "You," Obi-Wan declared, "are a lifesaver."

"Do you know how to use them?"

"Uh…" Obi-Wan squirmed uncomfortably. He'd stitched up wounds, and mended tears in his tunics, but hardly knew where to begin when creating an outfit out of cloth and thread.

Saché chuckled, "I'll help."

The pair settled down at a table in the mess hall, and Saché picked up the scissors, cutting some strangely shaped pieces of fabric from the cloak. Obi-Wan threaded the needle, and painstakingly stitched together the pieces the blonde ordered him to.

While they worked, Saché asked Obi-Wan if he was better now, from his earlier collapse. "It was a vision," he replied. "Thank you for the help earlier, I was rather disoriented."

Soon, they had put together a loose playsuit, though the shoulder straps were rather crooked. Saché gleefully informed Obi-Wan that his stitches resembled medical stitches more than anything else, a teasing grin on her lips, and Obi-Wan responded by telling her that they wouldn't come undone any time soon. Saché chuckled.

Obi-Wan thanked Saché for her help. She told him to get Anakin to wear a shirt underneath if his was clean enough, and then left to rejoin the Queen, throwing a fond smile the Padawan's way.

Anakin came out of the 'fresher just as Obi-Wan reached the door. "How long did you take, Anakin? You'll use up all the water at this rate," he gently teased.

"There's more water on this ship than there is on all of Tatooine! Besides, it all gets recycled for the 'freshers. Padmé told me that," Anakin announced proudly.

Obi-Wan laughed and handed Anakin his new clothes. "They are rather rough and probably fit none too well, but they will last you until your other clothes are washed. You might need to nick a shirt from someone though – yours is rather dusty after all."

Anakin put on the playsuit, thanked Obi-Wan, and then Obi-Wan set about the business of cleaning himself up.

_**3c. Ghouls of the Night**_

Sabé escaped the clutches of her handmaidens only after they were all asleep. Padmé still played handmaiden, so Sabé had been stuck in the role of Queen since before they'd even boarded the ship, back on Naboo when the Viceroy had threatened Naboo's Queen's safety, any number of days previously.

While on Tatooine, the Jedi Padawan had started acting strangely. According to Saché, he'd had a vision. In Sabé's opinion, he'd noticed the four women he was protecting.

Sabé had removed all the stage makeup, and taken down her hair, and donned one of her handmaiden dresses – a plain black one, but she neglected to put on the hood, leaving her shoulders and head bare. The cruiser was kept stocked with emergency items, including clothing for the Queen and three handmaidens, but it had not been anticipated that the Queen would want to wander about the ship incognito while travelling hyperspace, so Sabé'd had to raid Padmé's belongings.

The real Queen hadn't woken while Sabé stole the dress, probably due to the emotional exhaustion of her day. Sabé had been unwilling to risk waking Eirtaé or Saché, both of whom were light sleepers and would ground her in her guise as the Queen.

Now Sabé made her way to the throne room, where she expected to find peace and some time to think, to be herself. The dress she was wearing was long, but loose enough to not restrict her movements. She planned to spend an hour or two working out, something she'd been denied under the constant scrutiny of Jedi and pilots, all of whom were not to know that a) she was Sabé, not Amidala, and b) that the handmaidens could fight hand to hand.

The throne room was dark when she entered, and she kept it such, closing the door silently behind her. Sabé let out a breath, and began working her way through a series of warm-ups, carefully avoiding the throne itself.

As she practiced katas, Sabé's mind wandered. She should have been exhausted, yet the mind-numbing hours of sitting regally on the throne during the flight and the sojourn on Tatooine had left her with too much unused energy to go to sleep. She was accustomed to a fast pace, spending her days attending to the Queen, ensuring that Naboo ran smoothly and dealing with problems that didn't need to be presented to the Queen herself. After the Queen retired for the evening, she and the other four principal handmaidens would spend a gruelling hour or two training under Captain Panaka.

Sabé didn't notice the door opening, but she most certainly did notice the beam of blue light which materialised out of nowhere with a _snap-hiss_, barely a meter from her face.

Sabé's scream echoed through the dark throne room, and the lights snapped on as suddenly as the lightsaber snapped off. Obi-Wan Kenobi's shocked face looked into hers, and she lowered her own, desperately hoping that he had not gotten to know any of the handmaidens well. If he discovered that Padmé was actually the Queen, Sabé would simply die of humiliation.

"I apologise," the Jedi said in his cultured Coruscanti accent. "I was unaware that you were here."

Sabé brought her panicked breathing under control. She could see all too easily how people could fear the Jedi.

"I was unable to sleep, so I sought a place I could move around easily in," she said, pitching her voice normally, without the formality which concealed Amidala's age in court. "I didn't want to wake anyone with the lights," she added feebly.

The Jedi chuckled. "I'm not sure if we were introduced while on Tatooine. I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi," he said, eyes dancing as he waited for an answering introduction. Sabé would give him no such thing. He knew who Padmé was, or his Master did, at the very least. Saché and Eirtaé looked different enough to her and Padmé that Sabé could not be sure he wouldn't notice her subterfuge.

He seemed to notice that Sabé's silence was staying so. "I didn't mean to frighten you, milady," he said instead. "I only wanted to practice my lightsaber form, but that can wait. You look troubled. Would you like to talk?"

Sabé made a snap decision as he stepped toward her, offering a hand and a sympathetic ear. She smiled, and took the proffered hand in her own. They spoke of mindless topics late into the night, ranging from his life in the Jedi Temple to her own in the Queen's court. He never alluded to her identity, or his lack of knowing it, and Sabé felt comfortable in his presence, a feeling she had rarely experienced since fleeing her homeplanet.

Sabé had found a friend, and she smiled often that night, laughing more often than not. When they eventually parted, hours later, Sabé walked back to her cabin with a bounce in her step. Discarding the black dress for sleep clothes, Sabé fell into a deep, undisturbed sleep, and didn't rise until Eirtaé, Saché and Padmé dumped a glass of water over her face at eight o'clock, Coruscant time.

_**3d. Nighttime Wanderings**_

That night, Anakin couldn't sleep. He missed his Mum, and the hot, dry weather of Tatooine. Space was dry, but it was cold. He'd wrapped his thin blanket around himself, and started wandering the halls.

He found himself in the corridor where he'd run into Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan earlier that day. Perhaps this, then, was the room they were staying in? He could hear someone shouting inside, as if they were having a nightmare. Anakin knocked on the door, and upon finding a door release switch he opened it. Lying on a small bunk in the tiny cabin was the twenty-five year old Jedi, rolling around restlessly and calling out. _"No! Master!" _He stilled for a moment, then tossed again, all but screaming, _"You were my brother! I loved you!"_ and as Anakin tried to shake him awake, he called feverishly, _"You were the Chosen one! You were supposed to bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!"_

Obi-Wan suddenly opened his eyes, sitting up and smashing his forehead against Anakin's so hard that Anakin saw stars. "Anakin?" he asked blearily, rubbing his own forehead.

"You were having a nightmare. It looked pretty scary."

"Oh, did I wake you? Sorry."

"I couldn't sleep. It's cold," Anakin explained. "I heard you shouting."

"Thanks for waking me. I was reliving some of the worst parts of my vision."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I have a better idea. Come with me. I used to be a notorious insomniac, and eventually the Jedi Masters took pity on me by showing me this wonderful little drink. Would you like some?"

A grin spread across Anakin's face. "Please! What is it?"

Obi-Wan simply gestured for silence then headed off towards the galley, Anakin in tow, almost bursting with excitement as he followed the Jedi to get a mysterious drink.

"Don't tell my Master we did this," Obi-Wan whispered as they passed a door to someone's sleep room. "He thinks I outgrew hot chocolate years ago. What he doesn't know is that Yoda actually suggested I drink it to help me sleep."

"Who's Yoda?"

"Only the oldest, wisest, most venerated Jedi Master."

Anakin noticed the sad tones which crept into the Jedi's voice. "Was he in your vision?" Anakin asked.

"Yes."

"Master Qui-Gon said visions don't always happen. We'll make sure yours doesn't happen," Anakin promised fervently, as they entered the galley.

"Good. Now find me the milk. It should be in the cooling unit."

Anakin grinned as he opened the box, and crowed triumphantly when he found a few bottles of white milk.

"It's white! On Tatooine, we've only ever got blue milk! Watto once had a bottle of white milk, and he let me taste it."

The Jedi Padawan chuckled. "It's not going to be white for long – do you want it strong, super strong, or what Master Qui-Gon would call appropriate?"

"Appropriate?" Anakin asked.

"I call it weak," Obi-Wan confided with a wink.

"I'll have whatever you're having, then," Anakin declared with a grin.


	5. Blind Panic

_Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilm._

_**4a. Blind Panic**_

The next morning, Qui-Gon woke up in his own little cabin. He stretched out with his mind, as usual, to check on his apprentice, and suddenly jumped up, worry creasing his brow, as he couldn't find Obi-Wan. Knowing that running through the ship in his undertunic turning over everything in order to find his Padawan would terrify the Queen and her handmaidens, and make this trip _very_ difficult if he was overreacting, Qui-Gon hurried through the motions of cleaning up for the day, showered in record time, and raced off to his apprentice's cabin, still pulling on his boots.

There was merely a pile of blankets and cushions on Obi-Wan's bunk.

Qui-Gon ran out of the room and to the mess hall – the next most likely place for a Padawan to be. It was entirely empty aside from a sleepy pilot who'd just finished the night shift.

Struggling to control his panic, Qui-Gon reached out through the Force once again, attentively following the training bond. To his great relief, he noted that it hadn't been snapped – Obi-Wan was still alive – it rather just … vanished… right about where it should have met Obi-Wan's consciousness.

Qui-Gon tried to trace the faded link, but the location was very difficult to pinpoint. Qui-Gon was sure that his apprentice was aboard the Nubian cruiser, as it had never left hyperspace, but couldn't tell where he might be. He noticed, however, two mugs sitting on the galley's sink. On further inspection, they had the dregs of hot chocolate in the bottom – evidently, Anakin and Obi-Wan had enjoyed a late-night snack. Qui-Gon remembered the many times he'd found his apprentice in the kitchenette of their shared quarters at the Temple, hot chocolate mug in hand, in the small hours of the morning.

Qui-Gon tried the maintenance bay, where Anakin had curled up the night before among the droids, but the wayward apprentice was nowhere in sight. Nor, moreover, was Anakin himself.

Desperately, Qui-Gon went to the cockpit, where the pilot who didn't like Anakin was on duty, to the sublight drives, where he found no one at all, even the air vents and every other place the two had explored the previous day. All were Jedi-free.

Defeated, Qui-Gon went back to Obi-Wan's cabin, hoping to find some clue there of the whereabouts of his apprentice.

Still unable to sense Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon was quite surprised to find a whisper of Anakin's presence in Obi-Wan's cabin. Sitting on the empty bed to mull over where the Padawan could possibly be, Qui-Gon was caught by surprise as something suddenly launched itself at him, and he found himself flat on the floor with a knee in his kidney and a deactivated lightsaber at his throat.

"Master?" a voice said above him.

"Obi-Wan?"

The pressure left Qui-Gon's back and he got up, facing his perplexed apprentice and a yawning Anakin.

"I have spent the last hour searching everywhere on this ship, from the cockpit to the sublight drives, and you've been in this room the entire time?" Qui-Gon asked incredulously. Obi-Wan looked baffled for a second, then asked him _why_ he'd been searching the ship for him, when he could just use the training bond if he really wanted to find him. "I can't," Qui-Gon explained. "You've got some shielding up which I definitely didn't teach you, and, for that matter, should be impossible. I can't feel you through the Force at all, even though I'm looking straight at you!"

"Master … Yoda … taught me …" Obi-Wan scrambled for an explanation, and though the words rang true in the Force, Qui-Gon took them with a rather large grain of salt. "I just modified them a bit."

Anakin was looking from Master to apprentice like it was a tennis match of facial expressions. "You don't have to hide your feelings, Master Qui-Gon. You care about Obi-Wan like a son, and you were worried when you couldn't find him. Obi-Wan, you don't have to be ashamed because you have better shields than you're supposed to. Humans aren't even supposed to be able to Podrace, but I've been competing in it since I was seven. There's nothing wrong with being able to do things you shouldn't be able to."

_**4b. The Other Handmaidens**_

Eirtaé had been temporarily dismissed, as the Queen believed she looked more imposing with two handmaidens than three – something about symmetry, which Saché and Padmé had been rather vocal about. As a result, each handmaiden had a third of the day for herself, unneeded by the Queen.

Sabé, still acting as Queen, had allowed Eirtaé her time off once Padmé returned from 'hanging out' with the Gungan, Jar Jar. Eirtaé, however, had no intention of entertaining the Nubian native. She had bigger plans, plans which involved investigating the curious little boy who had won them their way offplanet.

Eirtaé found Anakin in the maintenance bay, chatting with the surviving droid, R2-D2. He appeared to understand the gist of the beeps and whistles, though it went over Eirtaé's head, for the nine-year-old was holding a lively conversation with the droid about piloting, and Anakin's dreams to one day fly a starfighter all over the universe.

"I'm telling you, Artoo, I'll be the best pilot in the whole galaxy! Whoa! Who're you?"

Eirtaé grinned. It seemed she had been spotted. "Hi, I'm Eirtaé, one of the Queen's handmaidens," she introduced herself.

Anakin's face lit up. "Hi, Er-tay," he began awkwardly, slightly mispronouncing her name. "I'm Anakin Skywalker. If you're a handmaiden, just like Padmé, does that mean you're just as nice as Padmé and Obi-Wan?" he asked.

Eirtaé laughed outright, not only at his statement, but also his likening her to her Queen in such a way. "I like to think I'm as nice as Padmé," she answered, but added, tongue in cheek, "but you won't find me crawling around in the vent shafts to amuse you!"

Anakin decided then and there that he liked this bright, outgoing handmaiden. "You're my newest friend, Er-tay," he announced. "If you won't go in the vents, will you show me the galley? It should be empty now, so we won't be in anyone's way," he added hopefully.

"I'll do one better, Anakin," Eirtaé declared. "How would you like to make the next meal with me? We'll be having an early lunch because we land about midday, so even if we epically fail at making lunch no-one will care – they can eat on the planet, after all."

Anakin's eyes lit up. "What can we make?" he asked as they bounced down the corridors to the galley. "No synthetic veggies, though, Er-tay! Please?"

_**4c. A Sidenote**_

Obi-Wan sought out the Queen before the ship landed on Coruscant.

"Your Majesty," he greeted her.

"Padawan Kenobi," she responded.

"Your Senator is going to believe that the situation on Naboo cannot be resolved by the Senate. He will push you to call for a Vote of No Confidence in the Supreme Chancellor. Don't call for this vote."

"Why do you say this?"

"Your Senator isn't as loyal as you presume. His first interest is not the welfare of the Nubians, but rather personal gain. He intends to make himself Chancellor."

"Is this related to your collapse earlier?"

"It is. I had a vision, not a glimpse of a possible future, but a warning of what is to come if we let events unfold. In thirteen years, the galaxy will be destroyed, and the first step is the election of Palpatine as Chancellor. This cannot happen, Milady."

Amidala nodded, a grave expression on her face. "I will take your words into consideration, Padawan Kenobi. If what you say is true, you can be sure that I will not participate."

Obi-Wan accepted this with a graceful bow of the head, knowing that a stranger's word against her planet's trusted Senator was not enough for her to act, and this was the best outcome he could expect from the Queen.

Sabé hurried off to discuss this with her handmaidens – in particular, one Padmé Naberrie. If Palpatine couldn't be trusted, and the Jedi could, then Padmé was facing some serious trouble in the Senate.

_**4d. The Jedi Council**_

The ship docked on Coruscant by midday. Obi-Wan recognised the greeting party, but the one person he focussed on was Palpatine. He managed to not show any anger, and as good as ignored the Senator as he stepped off the spaceship after everyone else.

Anakin followed the Queen and her handmaidens onto a speeder, and glanced back at Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon when they didn't follow suit. Qui-Gon motioned for him to leave with the handmaidens, and Padmé took his hand and guided him to sit by Jar Jar on the speeder. Obi-Wan waited by Qui-Gon's side until the Nubians had all left, and then Qui-Gon asked him something surprising. "Obi-Wan, why did you ignore the dignitaries so?"

"Sorry, Master?" Obi-Wan hadn't realised that his refusal to acknowledge Palpatine had been noticeable.

"You stepped off the ship last, and then didn't even look at any of them. Is something wrong?"

"I apologise. I was lost in my thoughts. It won't happen again."

They hailed another air taxi which took them to the Jedi Temple. Qui-Gon paid the driver then joined Obi-Wan on the way inside. They ran into Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, a Council Master, and asked him to set up a Council meeting – they had urgent information for the Council. He told them to report in an hour, and promptly set off to contact the other Council Masters.

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon used the time to clean up and were soon ready to meet the Council.

The door hissed open, and the two Jedi entered the Council Chamber. Obi-Wan noted with a degree of amusement that his chair in his past life was currently kept by Master Depa Billaba. Mentally naming each Master, Obi-Wan tried not to recall the death of each. He didn't know if any other than Yoda had survived the Jedi Massacre, but currently the Council consisted of Plo Koon, Mace Windu, Yoda, Oppo Rancisis, Yarael Poof, Saesee Tiin, Even Piell, Eeth Koth, Depa Billaba, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Adi Gallia, and Yaddle.

In the next decade, Yarael Poof would die and Yaddle would sacrifice herself to save Obi-Wan and Anakin, as well as countless civilians.

After the battle of Geonosis, Depa Billaba would fall to the Dark side – another thing Obi-Wan intended to prevent. He himself would replace her on the Council.

General Grievous would kill Adi Gallia, and Oppo Rancisis would be killed by a Dark Jedi.

Mace Windu, and Saesee Tiin would be killed by Sidious along with Kit Fisto and Agen Kolar, both not yet on the Council. Obi-Wan didn't know whether Ki-Adi-Mundi, Plo Koon, Stass Allie or Shaak Ti would escape the massacre – he'd not heard from any of them before Mustafar and assumed they had died at the hands of their clone troops.

"Obi-Wan? Is there something you'd like to say? You look like you've seen a ghost." Mace Windu's concerned voice broke through Obi-Wan's reverie, causing him to realise that they'd been dismissed, he'd just not noticed.

Obi-Wan started. "Sorry," he replied.

"Did you even hear what we've been saying?"

"Uh … no, Masters," Obi-Wan looked down as he spoke, feeling his cheeks turn pink. It had been a long time since he'd been caught not paying attention in a Council Meeting.

"Obi-Wan had a … _vision_ … while we were on Tatooine," Qui-Gon confided.

"About what, your vision was, young Obi-Wan?" Yoda asked carefully. "Aware are you, that always come true, visions do not?"

Obi-Wan looked Yoda in the eye. "This wasn't a normal glimpse of a possible future. It's what will happen unless I change history. The Sith will return. They have already returned. I saw the Sith tear down the Republic and massacre the entire Jedi Order."

The members of the Council stayed silent, not knowing what to say.

So Obi-Wan continued, addressing the whole Council. "The first thing to do to prevent this is to keep Valorum as Chancellor. Under no circumstances can Palpatine gain control of the Senate. Then there's this boy we found on Tatooine. He has to be trained. And the other Jedi can't know that he's special – if he feels excluded in the Temple, he will turn elsewhere for guidance, and Palpatine will lure him in."

"Isn't Palpatine the Senator of Naboo?" Master Windu asked suddenly.

Obi-Wan turned to directly face Windu. "Palpatine is the Sith Lord. His apprentice is the tattooed Zabrak Qui-Gon encountered. They both _must_ be killed. Palpatine has a grand plan – the revenge of the Sith, if you will – to place himself at the head of a Galactic Empire. He will be the Emperor, with no Jedi at all to challenge his authority."

"This clear, your vision was, young one?" Yoda asked gravely. Obi-Wan didn't answer.

"Bring the child before us, and he shall be tested," Mace told them. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon bowed, then left the Council Chamber.


	6. Coruscant

_Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilm._

_**5a. Of Worries**_

Anakin asked the Queen to tell Padmé he said goodbye, and then joined Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon in their little speeder. He was nervous, for he knew that this meeting could decide his future – would he be a Jedi? Or would he be sent away, to make his way back to Tatooine if he could?

Beside him, Qui-Gon sat in silence, as Obi-Wan deftly piloted the speeder towards the magnificent Jedi Temple.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin looked up, abandoning his fidgeting with the rough hem of his playsuit. The garment reached from his chest to his knees, with crooked shoulder straps and very rough hems around his knees. Obi-Wan and a handmaiden had made the playsuit for him after he'd ruined his clothes in the ventilation shafts with Obi-Wan.

"Yes, Obi-Wan?"

"The Council is not going to let Qui-Gon and I in when they test you. Don't be scared of them – they won't hurt you, and even if they decide not to train you, they won't cast you out on the streets of Coruscant."

"What will I have to do?"

"I'm not sure. It changes from person to person, especially as many Jedi are tested before they can even walk or talk. My friend Bant, for example, pretty much sat in the middle of the room, playing with her shoes, and was declared fit for training. Another friend, Garen, was a little older when he was tested, and they asked him to identify what was displayed on a datapad he couldn't see the face of. Poor kid couldn't name what it was, and ended up screaming in frustration, because he'd never encountered a speeder bike before."

"Do you think they'll ask me to do that?"

"Possibly. They might decide you're too attached to your mother, though. You've had nine years with her, it's understandable. Most Jedi don't ever meet their birth families, some know little more than their species and homeworld. Bant, for example, only knows that's she's a Mon Calamari. Garen and Siri don't even know their homeworlds, and assume they're both human. Quinlan knew his parents, and even grew up with them for a while, but had to leave Kiffu when his parents were killed. That was when he entered normal Jedi training."

"What about you?" Anakin asked curiously.

"I don't remember my own homeworld or test, but am told that all I did during the test was to physically latch onto Master Yoda with both my arms and the Force. I come from a planet called Stewjon, and was recruited to the Jedi within the first year of my life."

Anakin stayed silent for a few minutes. His thoughts turned back to his mother. "What's wrong with being attached to my mother?" he asked curiously. Qui-Gon stayed silent, and Obi-Wan pondered how to answer the query.

"The Jedi Code forbids attachment," Obi-Wan began, "because it can lead to the Dark side. Attachment leads to fear, which leads to anger, pain, and suffering. If a Jedi is possessive of those he cares for, he soon fears anything hurting them, or fears their death. This in turn becomes anger, either at a situation or a person, it matters little. In anger, a Jedi causes pain and suffering – not only to those he perceives to deserve it, but also to everyone around him. So attachment is dangerous for a Jedi."

"How do I not be attached to Mum, though?" Anakin's little upturned face was wrought with confusion as he tried to accept and understand this new concept.

Obi-Wan answered immediately, looking straight down into the young boy's eyes. "You have to learn to leave her be. I think you'll find such a task much easier if she were freed, and intend to ask the Council to send someone to free her. Do you approve?"

Anakin glowed with excitement. "Obi-Wan! You can do that? I love you!" he hugged Obi-Wan around the middle, squeezing the air out of his lungs in the process. Obi-Wan gasped for breath as he wrapped his arms around Anakin's shoulders, and the child looked up, tears filling his eyes. "Where will she live? Will I be able to see her?"

Obi-Wan stayed silent, unsure of how to answer. Qui-Gon, however, turned to face Anakin. "You will have to let your attachment to her go if you are to become a Jedi. She will choose her own path."

"We're here," Obi-Wan added, putting an end to the conversation as he shut down the speeder's controls. Anakin took a deep breath, then followed Qui-Gon out of the speeder, and into the unknown.

_**5b. Coruscant**_

Sabé and Padmé had switched places while the Jedi had met with their Council, and Anakin had been in the care of the Gungan, Jar Jar Binks, until he'd left for the Jedi Temple and his future.

Despite their outward appearance of being in their element, the three handmaidens were nervous. They spent all their time with Padmé, determined to not allow anything to happen to her while on Coruscant. During her appearance in the Senate, where she pled the Chancellor to come to Naboo's aid, Sabé, Saché and Eirtaé had tensely hovered in the back of Palpatine's pod, unable to come between the Viceroy of the Trade Federation and their beloved Queen.

Coruscant was the centre of the galaxy in many ways. To Sabé, however, it meant only worry. The Senate was a place she couldn't stand in for Padmé, and Sabé didn't like the feeling of incompetence.

After Amidala's Senate appearance, which Palpatine seemed displeased with, for Padmé had refused to call for a Vote of No Confidence in Chancellor Valorum, Amidala and her handmaidens were free to venture into Coruscant.

Amidala didn't switch with Sabé. She didn't entirely trust Palpatine with the knowledge of her use of a decoy, and Palpatine knew Padmé well enough to recognise if he spoke to her or her handmaiden. Instead, the four ladies retired to a rented apartment, where they chatted mindlessly for a couple of hours, leaving Jar Jar with Captain Typho and a couple of pilots.

Padmé was getting restless. "I'm going back to Naboo," she announced. "There is no more I can do here to help our people."

Sabé didn't disagree. Saché never said a word of contradiction. Eirtaé simply stood and began to gather the Queen's few belongings in the apartment.

"I will inform the Jedi," Sabé declared, before leaving the room, to find her way to the Jedi Temple.

Ric Olie, one of their pilots, agreed to take Sabé to the Jedi Temple, and borrowed Palpatine's speeder for the trip. During the short ride, Sabé stayed silent. She had a lot to think about.

She entered the Jedi Temple, feeling a kind of awe as she looked around the majestic main hall. It buzzed with activity, children running left, right and centre, as a few adults supervised. Sabé approached them cautiously, unsure of how to act.

"Uh, hi," she eventually settled on. A young Twi'lek woman turned around, and saw Sabé for the first time.

"Good day, ma'am," the Jedi Knight greeted her.

"I'm a handmaiden of Queen Amidala of the Naboo. I have a message for the Jedi Council."

"I will have a Padawan pass the message on, as they are in session at the moment." The Twi'lek raised her voice, calling a name. A young humanoid girl split off from the group of younglings, and Sabé realised that she was older than the other children by a number of years.

"Yes, Master?" the girl asked.

"Deliver a message to the Council, please. Handmaiden?"

Sabé took a deep breath. "Queen Amidala is returning to Naboo. She feels that her place is with her people, and that the Senate is unlikely to give her the assistance the planet requires. She would like her Jedi protectors back, as she is likely to face serious danger when she confronts the Trade Federation's Viceroy."

The Padawan nodded, and ran off up the corridor without a word. Sabé, her job done, thanked the Jedi Master and turned to leave with Ric Olie.

_**5c. The Decision**_

Anakin stood in the centre of the Council chamber, feeling the gazes of twelve Jedi Masters boring into him. He tried to suppress his anxiety, knowing that they could turn him away if he displayed such feelings.

Yoda warned him about fear, and the path to the Dark side. Anakin, who still did not fully understand what the Dark side was, filed the information away to ask Obi-Wan about later.

Soon, the nerve-wracking test was over, and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan joined Anakin in the Council chamber.

"The Force is strong within him."

"He is to be trained, then?" Qui-Gon asked, and the air almost hummed with anticipation.

"No," Mace Windu said with finality. "He will not be trained."

"No?" Qui-Gon asked incredulously.

"He is too old." Master Windu stated, as if it explained the decision.

"He _is_ the Chosen one. You must see," Qui-Gon argued, as the collective gazes of the entire Council fell on him.

Yoda leaned forward in his seat, and mused, "Clouded, this boy's future is."

Obi-Wan surprised everyone with his next words, and Anakin stared at him in shock. "He's too dangerous to leave untrained."

Yoda leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him. "Why say this, do you, Obi-Wan?"

"The Sith have returned. I have informed you of my vision. Anakin is the key to the Sith's ascent to galactic domination, and left untrained on an Outer Rim world, he'd be easy pickings for a Sith looking for an apprentice. Anakin needs to be taught to control his emotions and his power."

Qui-Gon stepped behind the boy, placing his hands on his shoulders. "I will train him." Anakin felt jubilation at these words, for his greatest desire was to become Qui-Gon's apprentice, just like Obi-Wan. "I take Anakin as my Padawan learner."

This caused outrage among the Council, though it had Anakin glowing with pride. From what he'd gathered, to become a Jedi you had to first become a Padawan, like Obi-Wan. If there was anyone Anakin wanted to be like, it was Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"An apprentice you have, Qui-Gon. Impossible, to take on a second," Yoda pronounced gravely.

Anakin hadn't known that. He didn't want to push Obi-Wan out of the way! Anakin tugged on Obi-Wan's tunic, but Obi-Wan motioned for him to stop. Anakin turned to Qui-Gon, but he likewise ignored the boy.

"The Code forbids it," Mace Windu added. Anakin's jaw dropped. He hadn't known that! He wanted to become a Jedi, but not at the cost of Obi-Wan's future!

"Obi-Wan _is_ ready."

Obi-wan stepped forward defiantly, going past his Master and leaving Anakin behind. "I am ready to face the Trials. More than ready," he declared in a powerful voice.

"Our own council we will keep on who is ready." Yoda said. Anakin felt Obi-Wan move to argue, but Qui-Gon's gentle hand on his shoulder stopped him. Anakin relaxed, knowing that Obi-Wan wouldn't get himself in more trouble.

"He is headstrong, and he has much to learn of the Living Force, but he is capable. There is little more he can learn from me." Qui-Gon said fondly.

"Young Skywalker's fate will be decided later," Yoda declared, diffusing the tension in the room.

"Now is not the time for this," Mace declared. "Queen Amidala is returning home, which will put pressure on the Federation and could widen the confrontation."

Ki-Adi-Mundi added, "And draw out the Queen's attacker."

Mace gave Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan their next mission. "Go with the Queen to Naboo and discover the identity of this dark warrior. This is the clue we need to unravel the mystery of the Sith, and to validate what Padawan Kenobi saw in his vision."

Yoda dismissed them with, "May the Force be with you."

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan bowed shortly, and Anakin followed suit, though his bow was a little deeper and rather clumsy. Obi-Wan stayed in the centre of the room as Anakin followed Qui-Gon out.

Once the door shut behind them, Anakin burst out with, "What about my Mum? Aren't you gonna ask someone to free her?"

Qui-Gon knelt down in front of the nine-year-old, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders again. "You will be trained. I will train you. And your mother will be freed. Obi-Wan is in there now, arguing your case. Trust me, he's able to find compromise in any situation." Anakin nodded, desperately hoping that these weren't just empty words. He was attached to his mother, the Councillors had seen it while interrogating him, and they'd called him up on it. Anakin hadn't mentioned Obi-Wan's plan to free Shmi, worried that it would damage his chances of being accepted for training.

Inside the Council Room, Obi-Wan stood solemnly. "More to say, have you, Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Yoda asked.

"I have a compromise to offer, if you are concerned about Anakin's attachment to his mother," he ventured. Each Master in the room eyed him critically, wondering what he was proposing. "As you may or may not know, Skmi Skywalker is still a slave to Watto on Tatooine. I believe that, were Anakin to know that she was free, and able to make her own choices for life, his attachment would recede with his protectiveness. To survive, they had to work as a team, and Anakin is worried that without him there, Watto will work her too much, and expect more from her. I ask that a message be sent to Quinlan Vos, to free the slave Shmi Skywalker, or another Jedi be sent to do so."

All around the room, heads were nodding. Obi-Wan resisted the urge to sink into the state of mind which would allow him to hear their mental communications, knowing that he would be sensed and questioned. Silently he waited, until Mace Windu eventually spoke. "Your reasoning is sound. His attachment is formed out of concern for her safety. A Knight will be dispatched to Tatooine, and if Skywalker's attachment to her fades, it will be taken into consideration."

"Thank you, Masters." Obi-Wan bowed, turned, and walked out of the chamber without another word.


	7. Inflight Entertainment

_Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilm_

_**6a. The Handmaidens**_

Saché fidgeted nervously. Eirtaé tapped her foot against the floor restlessly. Padmé sat still, deep in thought, planning and pulling her plans apart to isolate flaws.

Amidst all this, Sabé sat still on the uncomfortable throne, her newly applied makeup starting to dry fully, and her back aching from staying still for so long.

The cruiser had only left Coruscant airspace minutes earlier, yet to Sabé it felt like a lifetime, as she'd had to fool Senator Palpatine into believing her little act. She felt exhausted from the emotional strain, and desired only to fall into her bunk, and sleep for eight or ten hours.

Sabé knew that the trip would take at least sixteen to twenty hours, and intended to sleep for the last ten hours or so, so that when they arrived on Naboo she'd be fresh and ready for battle.

So for now, she had approximately eight hours to fill with – this. She was sitting on the throne, pretending to be Amidala, attempting to fool two Jedi, a Gungan and the pilots for now, and everyone else once they arrived on planet, and trying to come up with a plan to wrench control of Naboo from the Trade Federation.

Respite came when Padmé announced that she had a plan. She had to capture the Viceroy, and that would require a small team to get past the droids no doubt protecting occupied Theed. The Gungans had an army, which could, if she managed to talk their leader around, divert the droids' attention away from Theed and other cities, to a great battle on the plains of Naboo.

Sabé stood then, and declared her intention to have a bite to eat. Padmé, Eirtaé and Saché didn't seem to have a problem with getting lunch, and Eirtaé offered to fetch the Jedi while Saché fetched Jar Jar and the off-duty pilots. Padmé accompanied Sabé to the mess hall, and between them they set out a meal for everyone aboard the Nubian cruiser.

Lunch was a sordid affair, and yet Sabé considered it the highlight of her day so far. Depressing talk of the current situation on Naboo, and the likelihood of Senate interference, threatened to put Sabé off her meal, and she subtly redirected the conversation to Anakin's future as a Jedi Knight.

Obi-Wan informed them that Anakin would be a great Jedi Knight, for he'd seen it in his vision. Anakin's face lit up at that, but the Master, Qui-Gon looked apprehensive.

"The Council is undecided on whether to train Anakin or not. They see darkness and pain in his training, and some believe it may be better for him not to be trained."

Sabé responded in the Queen's formal tones. "Anakin is a child. Surely his future is undecided? Is there not a degree of risk in training any child in the ways of the Force?"

To her surprise, Obi-Wan answered. "There is always the risk of a Jedi falling to the Dark Side. Only Twenty-One have done so-"

"Nineteen." Qui-Gon interrupted.

"Nineteen. My mistake. In recorded history, nineteen Jedi are known to have left the Jedi, forsaking the teachings of the Jedi Order. Most of them were not exceptionally powerful, however, and didn't pose a great threat to the galaxy."

"Are you saying that, should Anakin fall, he would threaten the entire galaxy?" Sabé asked, to Padmé's silent approval, judging from the little smirk on her lips.

"I am," Obi-Wan said shortly. "The Council would see him untrained, but I disagree. I believe that Anakin must be trained, but he will have to be carefully guided away from the Dark."

"It is possible to do so?" Sabé pressed, intrigued. She knew little of the mysterious Jedi Order, and was unlikely to cross paths with any other Jedi who could satisfy her curiosity.

Obi-Wan's brow furrowed as he considered her question. Master Jinn didn't answer, letting his apprentice handle the question. Eventually, he did speak. "It is definitely possible to unwittingly push a Jedi to the Dark. Avoiding those mistakes could, theoretically, prevent a Jedi from feeling the lure of the Dark."

"And how does one push another to the Dark?" Sabé continued her line of questioning, determined to know now her curiosity had piqued. Padmé, by her side, positively bounced with interest.

"Exclusion," Obi-Wan immediately answered. "A Jedi who feels excluded, different from the other Jedi, and feels unable to approach others with his problems will be more vulnerable to the Sith than a Jedi who feels at home and comfortable around his peers. It is actually for this reason that only the Healers know of a Jedi's midichlorian count."

"Midichlorian?" Anakin asked. Sabé felt grateful that she was no longer the only one asking questions.

"Tiny, microscopic lifeforms that live inside our cells," Master Jinn elaborated.

"They live inside me?" Anakin asked, uncomfortably.

"Inside your cells," Qui-Gon reiterated. "They allow us to hear the Force, and to use it. Without midichlorians, or with only a small number of them, Jedi cannot access the Force."

"Do you know your own counts?" Eirtaé asked, intrigued.

Obi-Wan shook his head, while Qui-Gon answered, "not often, no. We do, however, know that Master Yoda's midichlorian count is about twenty thousand. He's got the highest count of any living Jedi."

"One's Force sensitivity is supposed to be directly related to their midichlorian count, although this does not always prove true. For example, Anakin's count could be higher than my own, and yet as he is untrained and I am an accomplished Force-user, in a conflict even using only instinctual skills, I would prove to be the stronger," Obi-Wan added.

Sabé nodded, following the logic. _Similar to self-defence_, she thought. _A stronger opponent can easily be beaten if he is untrained in martial arts, and you, though physically smaller, know how to bring him down._

_**6b. In-Flight Entertainment**_

Obi-Wan approached the Throne room on board the Nubian cruiser nervously. Qui-Gon wanted to spar, so that they could be that little bit more ready for a confrontation with the Sith.

The guard allowed Obi-Wan to enter, and he bowed to the Queen, then straightened. "Your Majesty," he began, "as you are well aware, this room is the largest on board the ship. Would it be possible for us to use this room for a few hours as a training room? It has been many days since we had a chance to practice, and it is likely that the tattooed Zabrak will be waiting for you in Theed."

"Of course, Jedi Kenobi," the Queen replied. "We shall relocate for the duration of your session. It is of paramount importance that our Jedi protectors are at the top of their game during the coming confrontation."

Obi-Wan bowed, and the Queen and her three handmaidens left the throne room, the guard at the door accompanying them. Moments later, Qui-Gon appeared in the doorway, lightsaber in hand, and Obi-Wan brought his own ignited blade above his head in the Soresu ready position.

Qui-Gon attacked with a low blow aimed at Obi-Wan's knees, which the apprentice blocked with ease. Obi-Wan stayed on the defensive, letting his Master attack, catching every strike aimed at him with the minimum of movement required. Qui-Gon feinted left and then sliced towards Obi-Wan's right hip, but met empty air as Obi-Wan leapt upwards and over Qui-Gon's head, his own blade slicing the air by Qui-Gon's ear.

"Not fast enough," Obi-Wan commented. "In a real duel I'd have sliced right between your eyes. Expect the unexpected."

Qui-Gon's brow rose, as his very young apprentice lectured him in lightsaber combat. "What form are you using, Obi-Wan? I only taught you Forms One and Two, yet that looks like Form Three with a bit of Ataru thrown in."

Obi-Wan suddenly realised that he'd done exactly what he had intended to avoid – slipped into the familiar stances of Form III, Soresu, which he'd learned long after Naboo. "At the Temple I saw Master Drallig demonstrating some Form Three. I think it worked to my advantage. After all, you can't expect every opponent who uses a particular form to stick to it, can you?"

Qui-Gon still looked sceptical, but accepted Obi-Wan's explanation. Obi-Wan, with a great deal of concentration, restrained himself to only Form One for a while, but eventually found it too restricting. In a duel against Darth Maul, like the one he fully expected, Obi-Wan wasn't going to play the part of an inexperienced Padawan, especially at the cost of his Master's life. No, Qui-Gon would just have to deal with it.

Obi-Wan stepped away from the older Jedi, his ignited lightsaber held limply by his side. "Master, I have something to show you. I'm not going to hold myself back when we duel this Sith. It's going to be a lot to accept, but it could mean the difference between life and death."

Obi-Wan knelt down, and Qui-Gon mirrored him. Closing his eyes, Obi-Wan isolated the shields around his mind in preparation to lower them.

Originally taught to Obi-Wan by Yoda after his elevation to Council Master during the Clone Wars, _Lytas-_shielding would cause one's presence to vanish from the Force, leaving an unidentifiable void. Taught to few, for it could be dangerous if misused, _Lytas_- shields were difficult to master, yet they didn't meet Obi-Wan's needs during some missions in the Clone Wars. He'd developed an accessory shield to work in combination with _Lytas_-shields, which would fill the void, allowing the Force to flow unimpeded, as if nothing were there. Untraceable, this technique could allow anyone who used it to be anywhere, undetected by other Force-users, so Obi-Wan had only taught it to Yoda himself, or Masters going on dangerous undercover missions. Yoda had called it a _Kenobi-_shield, but Obi-Wan didn't think of it as such.

"You can't feel my presence, Master, nor can you reach the training bond," Obi-Wan began. "If we hope to survive this battle, we will have to work in tandem, with all our skills and power. To do that, I'm going to lower my shields."

"What shields have you got? I was unaware of any Masters being able to vanish completely from the Force." Qui-Gon was obviously trying to hold back his curiosity, sensing that Obi-Wan was about to answer his questions.

"First you have to understand something. I had no vision. There was an anomaly in the Force, surely you felt it, the Force felt smug for hours."

"While I was collecting Anakin and you were installing the hyperdrive."

Obi-Wan nodded, then continued. "That was the Force trying to prevent, or undo, an utter disaster. I came back from a terrible future, to set things right, and to prevent the Republic and the Jedi Order from crumbling. I have lived already, and I intend to do all I can to prevent the Sith from gaining control of the galaxy. To stay unnoticed by the Sith, I have to keep the shields up. They can't notice something that's not there, but they can – and will – notice a Padawan who has the presence of a Master."

"Which brings us back to your impossible shields," Qui-Gon prompted, hiding any surprise at hearing that his Padawan had travelled through time.

"I have multiple layers. There are the traditional ones every Jedi has as a barrier against the lure of the Dark side, but then I have _Lytas_-shielding, too." Obi-Wan stopped at Qui-Gon's noise of recognition, and waited for his Master to speak.

"_Lytas_? Very few Masters even know of the possibility, let alone how to employ such shields. To obscure one's identity with _Lytas_ leaves a void in the Force, though, and any Force-user can sense such an occurrence."

"I went on a number of missions where my identity and presence could not be known, especially to the Sith. As _Lytas_-shielding on its own was insufficient, I developed an accessory shield to fill that void with the Force, causing my presence to be completely obscured and invisible. Master Yoda insolently named it _Kenobi_-shielding."

"You habitually hold these shields? Of the few Masters who learn _Lytas_-shielding, most cannot sustain them for longer than a few hours."

"With sufficient motivation you'd be surprised what Jedi can do. I'm lowering the shields now, so you'll be able to use the training bond, but you'll be shocked. I'm not a Padawan any more. You might see some of my memories, and many of them aren't pleasant." With that warning, Obi-Wan closed his eyes and let his shields fall down, one at a time, letting his presence flare like the beacon it had once been.

Obi-Wan waited patiently as Qui-Gon inspected his presence, noting Qui-Gon's pained reaction to the ripped and frayed ends of the training bond, which had torn so painfully with his Master's death. Eventually, Qui-Gon spoke. "I think it's time we got some actual lightsaber practice, don't you?"

Obi-Wan chuckled, stood, and mock bowed, drawing his lightsaber with a flourish. "Ever sparred with a Master of Soresu?" he asked, holding his blade high above his head in a ready stance.


	8. Preparations

_Dislaimer: Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilm._

_**7a. Preparations**_

Two hours later, the Jedi headed off to find Anakin and some food. Anakin was playing a game of some sort with Jar Jar, the three handmaidens, and the Queen, who had donned a simple dress for the hyperspace part of the journey. Obi-Wan recognised the differences between Sabé and Padmé, but had not mentioned to either of them that he knew their secret – after all, they were pulling it off expertly.

When Sabé caught sight of the two Jedi, she invited them to join the game, which Anakin had taught them all how to play. Obi-Wan was tempted to join, as he'd never seen Anakin like this during his previous lifetime. Qui-Gon, however, mentioned that they were only stopping their training for a meal.

Anakin jumped at the chance to eat, and dragged Padmé and Saché by their hands towards the kitchen end of the mess hall, calling, "Come on, Er-tay!" Obi-Wan noted how Anakin had befriended all the handmaidens this time, rather than focussing solely on Padmé as he remembered him doing. Eirtaé chuckled at his antics, smoothed down her dress, and then insisted on the Queen joining them all for dinner.

Over the bland space-rations meal, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan steered the conversation to Naboo's situation with ease. Sabé, still acting as the Queen, informed the Jedi that she had not called for a Vote of No Confidence in Chancellor Valorum, though her Senator had advised her to do so, and confided that she was concerned that Obi-Wan's predictions about his actions had been true.

"Did your vision reveal anything else about Naboo's crisis, Padawan Kenobi?" she asked delicately.

Obi-Wan deliberated for a moment, then answered. "There's going to be a droid army. I imagine you've already thought of a way to distract them? "

"Jar Jar?" the Queen turned to the Gungan.

Jar Jar cocked his head, not understanding her meaning.

"Do you believe the Gungans will help us?" Jar Jar nodded emphatically, his mouth full and so therefore unable to speak. "Anything else?" Sabé prompted.

Obi-Wan looked her in the eye, making a snap decision which, he hoped, would ensure that the planned takeover would work as it had in his memories. "The Zabrak will be in the Palace. Qui-Gon and I can deal with him. To capture the Viceroy, as I imagine you intend to do, you are going to need to use unorthodox matters. I suggest a decoy – Padmé looks similar to you, and could conceivably be mistaken for you. With two Queens invading the Palace, it will be much easier for one of your groups to arrest the Viceroy." The Queen nodded thoughtfully, while Padmé kept her face carefully blank.

"Padmé," she said, "after dinner, you and Eirtaé pick out an outfit. I don't want you to be in any undue danger if they do indeed mistake you for me, so keep the clothes toned down. You'll want to be able to run in them." The two handmaidens nodded, and Eirtaé started scanning the wardrobe in her mind's eye.

"And Master," Obi-Wan continued, "His lightsaber has two blades. I borrowed a pair of training sabers from Yoda – not that he knows, of course – and I've welded them together. You have to learn to fight a stronger opponent with a saberstaff. So ladies," he addressed the Queen and her handmaidens again, "We'll be keeping your throne room detained a while longer. Also, Anakin, don't do anything heroic. I don't want you to be noticed by Palpatine."

"Palpatine?" Anakin asked, while everyone else merely considered the Jedi's words in silence. "Isn't he the Senator for Naboo?"

"I have reason to suspect that he had a hand in the Trade Federation's blockade which began this whole mess. He seems to be a friendly old man, but he's not. He's full of the Dark side of the Force. Don't trust Palpatine."

"What's the Dark side?" Anakin asked, having heard the term used often by Obi-Wan.

The four ladies listened keenly, for Anakin's question was of great interest to them, also. Qui-Gon stayed silent, letting his apprentice answer the question.

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together. It is divided, into the Light side and the Dark side, the Living and the Unifying. Light and Dark describe the morality of its use. Light is used to help people, and is associated with compassion, selflessness, self-knowledge and enlightenment, healing, mercy and benevolence, while the dark side of the Force is destructive, and fuelled by hatred, fear, covetousness, anger, aggression, jealousy and malevolence. The Unifying Force embraces space and time as a whole, and is the part of the Force I am most attuned to. The Living Force deals with the energy of living things, and is Qui-Gon's forte.

"Jedi follow the will of the Force, using it to help people and to guide their own actions. Sometimes, the Force acts much like a living being, and it can use the Jedi Masters to correct mistakes, or to accomplish a task." Obi-Wan sent a thought down the training bond to Qui-Gon, _'I suspect that is what occurred with me. The Unifying Force is strong in me, and strove to correct the problem of the Sith. The Unifying Force deals with the big picture, not the details, and it didn't like the way things were going, so it sent me back to set things right.'_ Qui-Gon nodded in agreement, and so Obi-Wan turned his attention back to Anakin and his question.

"The Dark side is dangerous. Once a Jedi starts down the dark path, there is no turning back. Many Jedi have tried, when they realised their mistakes, but few succeeded even temporarily. The Dark holds a certain allure, as it affords unlimited power, though a Jedi in full connection to the Living or Unifying Force can also wield seemingly limitless power, if necessary. There are certain feats only achievable through use of the Dark, all of which ultimately cause pain and destruction. The Dark side is something many battle with everyday, whether it is the darkness in themselves or in others, but it can be controlled, suppressed, and even vanquished, with appropriate dedication."

Following this monologue, the silence in the hall was palpable.

Eventually Anakin spoke, just as everyone was finishing their meal. "I will _never_ fall to the Dark, I promise."

_**7b. Training **_

Obi-Wan ignited the training saberstaff, turning it up to full power. It wasn't a deadly setting, as the unjoined blades were meant for the youngest Initiates to use, but it would cause bruising and stings. Qui-Gon turned the power on his own weapon down, so that his own blade would also be non-lethal.

Obi-Wan raised the blade before himself, in both hands, and took the offensive as he swung the staff to attack. Qui-Gon caught the first blow, and held his own against his Padawan for half an hour. He let the Force guide him, feeling the currents flow through him, as he defended himself.

Obi-Wan increased the pace, raining attacks down on his Master, forcing Qui-Gon's blade to move at impossible speeds to catch each attack. Using the underhanded tactics that had been employed against him in battle by various Dark Jedi and Sith, Obi-Wan battered his Master's defence until he'd exhausted him. Eventually, Obi-Wan stunned his Master with a kick to the stomach followed by a blow to the chin from the hilt of his saberstaff.

"Master, be aware that your opponent won't adhere to rules of engagement. He will try to separate us, for we are most dangerous together. If he does succeed, expect him to try anything to distract, disable and kill you."

Breathless, Qui-Gon took his apprentice's words to heart. Checking a chrono, he realised that Obi-Wan and he had been duelling for an hour. He and Obi-Wan left the hall, and Qui-Gon found the small room assigned to him for the duration of the journey, where he promptly fell into a deep sleep from which he wouldn't rise until they arrived at Naboo.

_**7c. Sabé**_

Sabé was meant to be asleep. Eirtaé, Saché and Padmé were dead to the world, curled up in their bunks. Sabé, however, couldn't close her eyes without her imagination conjuring up images of Naboo, destroyed by her failure to recruit the Gungans as allies, or even destroyed before they could reach Naboo again. It had been days since the people were initially rounded up into camps, and as Sabé thought about Rabé and Yané, still onplanet with Governor Bibble, her stomach threatened to rebel at the sick images her mind forced her to watch.

Sabé didn't even bother to put on a dress, she merely climbed out of her bunk, crept past her best friends, and silently disappeared out the door. She needed to set her mind to rest.

She strolled through the dark ship, finding her way to the empty cockpit. She sat down, watching the mottled view of hyperspace outside the viewport. She lost herself in the vision, her troubled thoughts blanked by the surreal view.

She didn't jump when she felt someone enter the room, nor did she react as they spoke.

"The mysterious fourth handmaiden," Obi-Wan Kenobi said by her side, from his seat in the copilot's chair.

Sabé grinned. "So you noticed," she commented idly, speaking in her normal voice, rather than the regal Amidala tone.

"It was rather hard not to. I'm not going to question why you're running around as a handmaiden in your spare time, your Highness, for I understand why completely."

Sabé chuckled. He thought she was the actual Queen, so Padmé's secret was still safe. All she had to do now was be herself. "I'd rather you not call me such when we're like this. I mean," she gestured down at herself, noting how he didn't so much as blush as he noticed her choice of attire, "I'm hardly dressed as Amidala."

"So what would you have me call you?" Obi-Wan prodded, almost teasingly. His cerulean eyes bore into her own brown ones, and Sabé was tempted to give her real name then and there.

She stayed silent, unwilling to put down her disguise after it had held for so long, so well.

"I can see you don't want me to know your first name. I noticed, when I researched the planet, that during your election, and indeed your entire political career, you took the pseudonym of Amidala. Don't you ever just want to be yourself, without the web of politics about you?"

"Politics can be exhausting after a time. That's why I came here – I couldn't quiet my thoughts. What if we're too late? What if I can't convince the Gungans to join us? What if Rabé and Yané are injured or dead?"

"This war isn't your fault. If they are injured, or even dead, they did it in service of their planet. That's more than many can say."

"If you had to die for something, what would it be?" Sabé suddenly asked, tears in her eyes as she was reminded of the possibilities that her friends may well be facing.

Obi-Wan quieted for a moment. "I'd want to die for something I believe in. Freedom, or rights for ordinary people on a repressed planet. I've found that it's not what a man fights _with, _that is important, it's what he fights _for_. And never fight for something you're not willing to die for."

He said it with such sadness, that Sabé reached an arm out to wrap around the Jedi's shoulders. He said it as if it had been a favourite saying of a friend, who had indeed died for such beliefs. "I would gladly die for Naboo," Sabé whispered, meaning it with all her heart.

"As would I," Obi-Wan added, surprising the decoy. Sabé turned to look at him, truly inspect him, and resolved to get to know him better before they plunged back into the very real war engulfing her planet.

Two hours later, after Sabé had poured out all her insecurities and worries, and Obi-Wan had confessed his own concerns about the future and his vision, she and Obi-Wan considered themselves friends, not merely allies, or protector and protected. As Sabé fell asleep in her bunk, she dreamed of another time, when she and the intriguing young Jedi could have spent more time together, on Naboo, in peaceful times. She dreamed of waterfalls and secret gardens, and caught a few glimpses of young children, sometimes with Sabé's dark hair or eyes, sometimes with Obi-Wan's paler tones, but always laughing, running between plants, happy and at peace.

In another cabin on the cruiser, deep in a restorative slumber, Obi-Wan dreamed of another life, where he'd never been claimed by the Jedi, and had lived his life on Naboo, where he'd grown up, and met a wonderful young woman in service to her Queen. Perhaps he was a pilot, or a bodyguard, but in every flickering image, Obi-Wan was content, and the beautiful young Sabé flitted about, dancing for pure joy, occasionally snatching an errant child from a gnarled climbing-tree…


	9. Return to Naboo

_Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilm._

_**8a. Return to Naboo**_

Sabé had sent Obi-Wan, the Jedi Padawan, to inform his strangely absent Master that Jar Jar had entered the lake to seek out his people. She stood stiffly with her handmaidens and Panaka, fleshing out their plan to take back Theed.

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon rejoined them as Jar Jar emerged from the lake, looking around as if utterly bewildered.

"There'sa nobody there!" he declared. "The Gungan city is deserted. Some kinda fight, mesa thinks."

"Do you think they've been taken to the camps?" the Padawan asked Panaka, and Sabé listened even as her heart sunk to somewhere past her stomach. The Gungans were an army, but an army could not fight a war if they were locked up.

"More likely they were wiped out," Panaka replied grimly. Sabé tried to keep her face blank, but was having a hard time. Her lip trembled, and Saché, who'd been attentively watching her, placed a comforting hand on her arm.

"Mesa no think so," Jar Jar contradicted. Sabé's head whipped around to look intently at the Gungan, who's attention was trained on the older Jedi.

Qui-Gon asked the obvious, "Do you know where they are, Jar Jar?"

Jar Jar looked thoughtful. "When in trouble, Gungans go to sacred place. Mesa show you, come on, mesa show you!" Excitedly, the Gungan rushed off through the underbrush, the Nubian entourage following cautiously, Panaka's hand on Sabé's back as they walked.

Jar Jar unfalteringly lead them towards the Gungan Sacred Place, where a mounted Gungan guard greeted them with a measure of hostility. Jar Jar managed to convince the guard to introduce the Queen to the Boss Nass, and Sabé hid a grin when she noticed Qui-Gon's hand falling back to his side.

"Your Honour, Queen Amidala of the Naboo," the mounted Gungan announced.

Jar Jar clumsily greeted his people's leader. "Uh, hello there, the Boss Nass, honour."

"Jar Jar Binks," Boss Nass announced in a grandly threatening voice. "Whoska ousen others?"

Sabé stepped forward, and spoke in that flat voice which made the Queen seem older than her fourteen years. "I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo. I come before you in peace." She kept her eyes on the Boss Nass, determined to do her part, and secure the Gungans as allies.

"Ah, Naboo people. Yousa bringen the meck-a-neeks. Yousa all bombad," Boss Nass declared.

Sabé continued on regardless, pushing down the mental voices which told her to pull out, to try another approach, and that this would not work in a million years. The Gungans, she'd been brought up to believe, were uncultured beings who stretched the line between sentient and not. "We have searched you out, because we wish to form an alliance." Sabé's heart quailed when the Gungan leader didn't react to her words at all.

Seeing that this traditional approach was not going to sway the Gungan leader, Padmé moved forward, starting with a respectful, "Your Honour."

Sabé nearly screamed. Outwardly, she retained her composure, but inwardly she was seething. _Padmé! What's the point of a decoy if you expose yourself?_

Boss Nass was not pleased. "Whosa dis?" he asked impatiently.

Padmé introduced herself, ignoring the many surprised reactions of her group. "I am Queen Amidala. This is my decoy, my protection, my loyal bodyguard." Sabé caught Padmé's eye, and silently communicated her disapproval. She may not have been succeeding, yet, but Sabé did have tricks up her sleeve. She'd not been chosen as decoy just for her looks, after all. Padmé ignored her best friend, and relentlessly continued to destroy her own cover. "I'm sorry for my deception but it was necessary to protect myself. Although we do not always agree, your honour, our two great societies have always lived in peace."

Boss Nass agreed with a reluctant, "Ah."

Padmé continued unconcerned, determined to settle this alliance. "The Trade Federation has destroyed all that we've worked so hard to build. If we do not act quickly, all will be lost forever. I ask you to help us, no, I beg you to help us." She fell down to her knees in a gesture of submission. "We are your humble servants. Our fate is in your hands." Her entire entourage also descended to their knees, and waited for the Boss Nass to consider them.

Sabé on her knees, instinctively having followed the lead of her Queen, tried to keep her thoughts under control, so that her face would not show her alarm. _What if the Boss Nass betrays us? The Gungans staying out of this war would make this much more difficult, but if the Viceroy knew of our deception… S_he let the thought trail off, undesirous of putting words to her worries.

"Hmmm," abruptly, the Gungan started to laugh, deep guffaws from his belly. "Yousa no tinken yousa greater dan de Gungans? Mesa liken dis," he declared. "Maybe, wesa being friends."

A huge smile spread across Padmé's face, and the Nubians stood, immediately beginning planning with the influential Gungans. Sabé rose to her feet, extremely relieved, and immediately excused herself. With Padmé uncovered as Queen, Sabé was of no use to anyone.

Sabé found her way back to the ship, planning to get changed into her Battle tunic and pants. The Gungans knew she was a decoy, but the Viceroy was still unaware. She would continue to protect Amidala in the best way she knew how – by drawing the danger to herself instead.

A person made his presence known with footsteps echoing in the otherwise empty ship. Sabé looked up into the eyes of Obi-Wan as he passed the doorway, and she smiled, glad for the unlooked for company.

"I didn't want you to be alone while dressed as the Queen," he explained. "It wouldn't do for the Federation to notice through satellite surveillance your little charade, after all."

"Sabé," she suddenly said, and it felt really fantastic to say the simple name. "My name is Sabé."

Obi-Wan smiled. "Sabé. The most loyal handmaiden, yet the one most likely to never be named in history," he reflected with sadness tingeing his voice.

Sabé patted the bed next to her. She didn't care about proprietary, as there was no-one else on the ship, and the mattress was a far better seat than any the ship offered. The young Jedi sat by her, and as they spoke, Sabé felt a curious attraction to the young man.

_He's twenty-five,_ her mind told her. _And you're nineteen. _

_So? _A louder, more Sabé-like part of her mind retorted. _He's gorgeous, and a Jedi – there'll be no strings, no attachment. Just us._

And with that rebellious thought, she turned and pressed her lips to his. He froze for a moment, then responded, and Sabé's perception of the world narrowed to one person, and herself.

_**8b. Of Plans**_

"They're here!" Anakin rushed over from the watchtower. Obi-Wan almost laughed at the child's excitement, and pplaced a hand on the boy's shoulder when he reached them.

"Good, they made it," Padmé commented.

Anakin turned, wrapped his arms around Obi-Wan, and buried his head in the young man's chest. Obi-Wan, in return, held the little boy tightly, ignoring the curious glances Qui-Gon sent his way. Anakin may have seemed to be excited about the coming revolution, but Obi-Wan could read the boy's face, and knew that inside, he was terrified. Of what, Obi-Wan couldn't be sure. Was he afraid of losing Padmé? Qui-Gon? Obi-Wan himself? Eirtaé or Saché, perhaps? Obi-Wan offered what comfort he could, silently supporting Anakin.

A few moments later, Captain Panaka approached. "What is the situation?" Padmé demanded.

"Almost everyone's in camps," he answered immediately. "A few hundred police and guards have formed an underground resistance movement. I brought back as many of the leaders as I could." Panaka glanced at the Jedi, Sabé and a pilot, then returned his gaze to Padmé. "The Federation army's also much larger than we thought, and much stronger. Your Highness, this is a battle that I do not think we can win."

"The battle is a diversion," Padmé explained. "The Gungans must draw the droid army away from the cities. Artoo?" The little astromech projected a holographic map of Theed and the palace, with a line which extended as Padmé spoke, visually explaining her plan. "We can enter the city using the secret passages on the waterfall side. Once we get to the main entrance, Captain Panaka will create a diversion. Then, we can enter the Palace and capture the viceroy. Without the viceroy they will be lost and confused. What do you think, Master Jedi?"

Qui-Gon seemed hesitant. "The viceroy will be well guarded."

Captain Panaka contradicted him, saying, "The difficulty will be getting into the throne room. Once we're inside, we shouldn't have a problem."

Qui-Gon voiced his other concern. "There is a possibility, with this diversion, many Gungans will be killed."

Boss Nass, however, was unworried. "Wesa ready to do oursa part," he declared fiercely.

Padmé continued her briefing. "We have a plan, which should immobilise the droid army. We will send what pilots we have to knock out the droid control ship orbiting the planet."

"A well-conceived plan," Qui-Gon approved. "However there's great risk. The weapons on your fighters may not penetrate their shields."

Obi-Wan expressed his own observations. "And there's an even bigger danger. If the Viceroy escapes, your Highness, he will return with another droid army. "

Padmé locked gaze with the Padawan. "Well that is why we must not fail to get the Viceroy. Everything depends on it."

_1590 words_


	10. The Duel of the Fates

_Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilm._

_**9a. To Enter the Palace**_

Padmé, Qui-Gon, Anakin and Obi-Wan approached from a different angle to the others, who protected the decoy, Sabé. As Padmé signalled to Panaka, Qui-Gon knelt down to speak to Anakin. "Once we get inside, find a safe place to hide and stay there."

"Sure," Anakin answered without a thought.

"Stay there," Qui-Gon insisted gently, trying to impress upon the child the importance of staying safe. Obi-Wan reached out to grasp Anakin's shoulder, emphasising his Master's words. Anakin nodded solemnly, a serious expression on his young face.

Blaster fire erupted as the droids caught sight of Panaka and his men. Breaking cover, the group rushed for the main palace entrance, while the Jedi defended themselves, Padmé and Anakin from blaster fire with their lightsabers as they ran to the entrance to join the larger group.

Obi-Wan closed the great doors with the Force once they were all inside, locking them shut with a thought. He spoke quietly to the pilots in groups of two and three while they walked through the halls, informing them that the only way to destroy the control ship could be flying inside and blowing it up with torpedoes. They all understood, and so Obi-Wan went back to the fore of the group before they reached any obstacles, leaving the pilots in the rear concocting a plan.

They met no resistance until they reached the main hangar, where a number of droids were guarding the starfighters. Lightsabers blazing, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon deflected blaster bolts back to the droids while the pilots lay down fire. "Ani, find cover," Qui-Gon insisted. "Quick!" he added.

"Get into your ships," Padmé instructed the pilots, who immediately obeyed. They left the hangar within moments, flying out to knock down the droid control ship.

Artoo let himself be hoisted up into an empty fighter's astromech bay, and Anakin decided that the shields on the ship would protect him much more than any metal he could hide behind. He clambered into the cockpit, and started inspecting the buttons, trying to find the shield generator.

Once the hangar was secured, Padmé declared, "My guess is that the Viceroy's in the throne room."

Captain Panaka reacted instantly, "Red group! Blue group! Everybody this way!"

Anakin stood up and shouted, "Hey! Wait for me!"

Qui-Gon turned and shouted, "Anakin, stay where you are. You'll be safe there."

"But I-" Anakin argued.

"Stay in that cockpit!" Qui-Gon reiterated.

Obi-Wan sent a glance to Anakin, and sent a tendril of support along their fledgling bond. Anakin wouldn't be able to reply, as his own end of the bond was barely formed, but he quieted noticeably and sent Obi-Wan a small nod of acceptance. Obi-Wan nodded, then turned away to follow Qui-Gon and the Nubian entourage out of the hangar.

The doors opened, revealing a single black cloaked figure in the centre of the doorway. He raised his red-and-black tattooed visage, challenging them with a yellow gaze.

"We'll handle this," Qui-Gon announced, making his way to the front of the group with Obi-Wan by his side.

Padmé and the others turned the corner, going down a different corridor. "We'll take the long way," she declared.

.

The group ran back through the hangar to a side door, but three Destroyer droids rolled into the bay, unfolding themselves and putting up shields, before blasting at the rebels. In his borrowed starfighter, Anakin decided, "We've gotta do something, Artoo!" and then searched for the controls for the fighter's blasters.

Artoo twittered urgently to Anakin, the fighter's translator informing Anakin that the droid was telling him to get on with it. "I'm trying, Artoo, I don't know where the trigger is."

Anakin felt a whispered warning in the back of his mind, which reminded him of Obi-Wan somehow. '_Don't randomly press buttons. Use your instincts, find the right one,'_ it seemed to say. Anakin decided not to press the big central button, as he had a feeling it might be the ignition. Anakin pulled a lever, which closed the cockpit, protecting Anakin, and then he found the trigger. A few well-placed lasers struck the droids down, and Padmé ordered her group, "Let's go!"

.

Sabé could easily tell that Padmé was getting impatient. Shooting another group of droids, and hiding behind another pillar in yet another hallway, she leaned towards Panaka. "We don't have time for this, Captain," Padmé groused.

In response, he turned his blaster away from the droids, and smashed out a window. "Run!" he ordered.

Padmé, Panaka and a few guards climbed out the window carefully, and used grappling guns to haul themselves up to the highest level of the Palace, some two floors above their current position.

Still in the corridor, Sabé, Saché and Eirtaé continued to blast away at the droids with half the guards. They would continue this path to the Throne room, as insurance to capture the Viceroy.

They approached the final corridor, finally, to find it full of droids. After carefully blasting their way through, Sabé caught sight of the Viceroy through the open doors of the throne room.

"Your little insurrection is at an end, your Highness," the Viceroy informed Padmé, who had apparently been captured. "Time for you to sign the treaty and end this pointless debate in the Senate."

"Viceroy!" Sabé called in her regal voice, causing the Neimoidian's head to whip around in surprise. "Your occupation here has ended." Padmé looked as if she could have kissed her best friend and decoy, and Sabé levelled a blaster at the Neimoidian.

"After her!" Nute Gunray ordered his droid troops. "This one's a decoy!"

Sabé, with Eirtaé and Saché flanking her, stood her ground and levelled blaster shots at the battle droids which surged at her. The doors to the Throne room jammed shut, and Sabé's concentration was afforded only to blasting those infernal droids out of existence.

_**9b. The Space Battle of Naboo**_

In orbit around Naboo, Ric Olie piloted his yellow fighter towards the circular structure beaming commands down to the battle droids on-planet. He knew his task – it had been agreed between the pilots after the younger Jedi had given them the warning inside the palace, that one fighter at a time would attempt to fly inside the control ship to blow up its main reactors, while the others would attract enemy fire away from the true threat.

Ric had been nominated to go in first, as he was experienced with avoiding the Trade Federation's tactics, having piloted the Queen's escape from Naboo's occupation, and had the greatest chance of getting out alive.

A burst of static over his comm. told him that someone had been downed, yet he kept flying his evasive course, aiming for the hangar bay the droid ships had been deployed from. Upon reaching his target, he streaked through the ship at high velocity, let loose two torpedoes, swung a hard left turn, and raced the blooming explosion on his way out. The Neimoidians manning the ship never knew what hit them, as they lost power and soon blossomed into oblivion.

Ric shouted with glee into his comm. "I did it!" he announced.

His wingmates whooped with delight, and the squad returned to Naboo, the exploding droid control ship filling their rear-view mirrors.

_**9c. The Duel of the Fates**_

The Zabrak removed his cloak, the challenge filling the air, even though it was unspoken.

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon let their own cloaks whisper to the floor, unclipping their lightsabers.

Darth Maul lit first one side, then the other, of his saberstaff, to which the Jedi responded by igniting their own blades. Obi-Wan didn't attack first this time, waiting for Maul to lose his patience instead. Qui-Gon sent a thought down their training bond, _'You attack from behind. I'll attack from the fore.'_

'_No,' _Obi-Wan disagreed. _'You take the rear. Your style is more unpredictable, he'll have a harder time defending."_

In answer, Qui-Gon leapt over Maul's head, and the duel began. Qui-Gon launched attacks at Maul's back while Obi-Wan hammered at Maul's front, but the Sith managed to block every strike with his two blades.

Obi-Wan struck at Maul's stomach with a kick, while Qui-Gon swung at his head. Maul caught the attack with his blade, and Obi-Wan abruptly changed forms, using Form VII, Vaapad, to channel the darkness emanating from Darth Maul into energy he could use to attack. Rapidily striking at Maul, Obi-Wan grinned as the Zabrak had difficulty defending himself from both Master and apprentice.

Maul abruptly leaped away, executing a perfect flying fox to escape from between Master and Padawan. Using the Force to throw a dropped blaster into the wall panel, opening the door, Maul backed away, drawing the Jedi into an arena of his choosing: a wide hall at the entrance to a series of catwalks.

Obi-Wan ran after him, and continued to attack Maul, but the Sith evaded expertly. Qui-Gon joined in, attacking Maul from the right while Obi-Wan took the left, pressing the Sith's defence. Maul jumped off the edge, somersaulting backwards to land on one of the catwalks, and Obi-Wan followed immediately, not allowing Maul any time to catch his balance before attempting to slice and dice him. Qui-Gon leapt across the gap, and Maul only barely managed to block his overhead attack.

The Zabrak kicked at Obi-Wan savagely in an attempt to make him fall off the catwalk. Expecting this, Obi-Wan ducked under the blow, bringing his lightsaber towards the unprotected leg of his adversary. Maul ducked, swinging his saberstaff around ninety degrees to catch the blade, while Qui-Gon jumped out of range of the opposite blade.

In an unexpected manoeuvre he'd learnt from Anakin, Obi-Wan ducked under Maul as he stretched to his feet and flipped the Zabrak over his back and off the catwalk. The Sith, however, landed on another catwalk and Qui-Gon jumped down to finish the job. Obi-Wan took a moment to reset his mind, leaving Vaapad behind in favour of Ataru, and then leapt down himself, attacking Maul with ferocity reminiscent of Yoda facing Dooku on Geonosis. Obi-Wan leapt through the air, attacking Maul from all angles while Qui-Gon hammered at his defences, attempting to find a crack he could use to finish this fight.

Obi-Wan's aerobatics was doing little to harm the Sith, and so he increased the pace, forcing Maul to divert his attention more toward the Padawan than the Master. Qui-Gon used the opportunity to try to debilitate Maul by striking at his feet, but the Zabrak was able to use one blade against Qui-Gon while blocking Obi-Wan with the other.

Maul backed up into a service corridor, and the red shields which snapped into place separated him from the Jedi as he leapt away from them. Qui-Gon turned his lightsaber off, and, ignoring the challenge in Maul's eyes, knelt down to the ground to centre himself in the Living Force. Obi-Wan stayed alert, but performed the necessary mental adjustments to use his favoured form of lightsaber combat, Soresu, even though it was more useful for defence than offence. Maul had been well-trained in holding his own against the more aggressive types of combat, even Vaapad, although Obi-Wan couldn't claim to have Mastered the last form.

During the Clone Wars, Jedi had not recognised Obi-Wan Kenobi as _a _Master of Soresu.

They'd considered him _the_ Master of Soresu.

Obi-Wan had defeated Maul before. He could do it again. This time, Qui-Gon would not die. This time, Obi-Wan would destroy Darth Maul before he could surprise Qui-Gon with an early death.

The plasma shields snapped open, and with them Qui-Gon's eyes.

Obi-Wan let Qui-Gon attack Maul first, and then concentrated his blows on the central handle of Maul's saberstaff. Within moments, one side was detached, and lay in a smoking heap, skittering across the floor. With one blade, Maul proved less effective against his dual opponents, and concentrated on Obi-Wan, angry about the destruction of his weapon.

A Force push sent Qui-Gon flying, out of the way, where he skidded off the edge of the circular platform to fall into the reactor core hundreds of meters below.

Maul attacked Obi-Wan now, his earlier defensive strategy gone. The angry Sith Lord seemed to be more powerful now, but Obi-Wan had faced Vader and lived to tell the tale. Obi-Wan's Soresu proved to be capable of holding off the Zabrak, and Maul's moves got more and more aggressive as Obi-Wan blocked effortlessly.

Obi-Wan saw Maul's mistake a moment before he made it. The Zabrak attempted to behead the Jedi with a powerful swing from the side, but Obi-Wan ducked and brought his blade up, neatly stabbing through the Zabrak's midsection in the deadly, Sith version of a _Shiak_. Maul choked and gurgled in surprise and pain, and Obi-Wan stood straight as he delivered the final, measured blow, separating the Zabrak's head from his neck. Obi-Wan took a moment to notice his use of _Sai Cha_, separating a head from the body of an enemy one could not afford to keep alive, in contrast to the Sith-like _Sai Tok_ he'd used last time, the act of cutting an opponent in half.

Obi-Wan rushed over to the edge of the platform, where he'd seen Qui-Gon fall, and found his Master hanging precariously from a nozzle, possibly the same one which had saved Obi-Wan's life in his original version of events.

Qui-Gon smiled up at his apprentice. Obi-Wan reached a hand down, which Qui-Gon declined, using the Force to leap up himself. "I didn't want to draw attention to my survival because I had no defence. You seemed to have the situation under control," he commented.

Obi-Wan laughed with relief. He'd thought that he'd lost his Master to Darth Maul again. "Your lightsaber is your life," he quoted.

"Unless you have a superb Padawan to catch the slack," Qui-Gon returned, slapping a friendly arm cross his apprentice's shoulders. "They'd better have shut those droids down by now. I really don't fancy being shot at without a lightsaber!"


	11. Naboo, a Peaceful Planet

_Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilm._

_**10a. To Make a Thank-You Gift**_

Padmé and her handmaidens relaxed in their rooms in Theed Palace. Messages had been sent to Coruscant, and Senator Palpatine would be arriving in a couple of days to officially take the Viceroy into custody, who was under supervision in the closest thing Naboo had to a dungeon.

"We should make a thank-you gift," Sabé suddenly announced, from her position braiding Eirtaé's hair. "Something for Obi-Wan to remember us by."

Padmé grinned. "The jeweller on Theed Street is already back in business. We could get his help to make something for our Jedi protector."

"Are Jedi even allowed to accept gifts? They have that no-attachment rule of theirs…" Saché trailed off, and then all four girls said, "Who cares?" as one.

Rabé and Yané, on the other side of the room, felt left out, having never met this handsome Jedi hero. "We'll stay out of your way. Yané's ankle still needs to heal, and I'll divert any visitors, Padmé," Rabe said softly.

"Or you could go find those Jedi and introduce yourself. The kid, Anakin, is ever so delightful, and Obi-Wan, Naboo's hero, is just gorgeous," Saché stated frankly. "The Master, Qui-Gon, can be a little scary, but rumour has it he's got no laser sword at the moment and therefore is a lot less dangerous than he could be. Their rooms are on the third floor, east wing, anyway."

Yané's young face lit up, and she struggled to her feet, leaning heavily on a pair of crutches due to her broken ankle, sustained while protecting the Governor and a group of Nubian refugees. "Rané," she started, "I'm going to congratulate the Jedi. Are you coming or not?"

Padmé, Sabé, Saché and Eirtaé laughed as Rané practically ran out of the room, leaving Yané to hobble along in her wake.

The remaining four girls headed down to the Jeweller's shop, and upon finding the craftsman, Finn, to be quite helpful, they set to work on designing a brooch to give to their Jedi hero.

Sabé thoroughly enjoyed working with the metal, as she gently heated the gold and bent it into the desired shape. A twisting golden heart, slightly wobbly but recognisable, gleamed before her on the workbench. Next to her, Padmé had likewise finished her own part, though it was a half-moon shape. Further down the bench, Saché and Eirtaé were arguing over which pin to use, as their piece, another half-moon, lay on the surface, gleaming in the light.

Padmé's piece had a hook on the side to attach to Sabé's, and a loop on the rear, for the pin. Saché and Eirtaé's piece had a hook on one side, also to attach to Sabé's, but the rear would boast the pin, making the complete piece a brooch. Sabé's had loops on the sides, and when the pin had been attached, the pieces fitted together neatly – after a little tweaking by the jeweller.

The gems were the next thing to do. Padmé had brought more than enough credits to pay for their materials, and so the girls picked out what they wanted without a thought to the cost. When fully gemmed, a couple of hours later, the brooch looked magnificent.

Finn offered them a case for the brooch, which they accepted before paying for their materials. Finn sent them off with a grin, saying, "If any of you ever consider a career change, I'll be happy to take you on as apprentice!" The girls burst into peals of delighted laughter, and Saché called back, "You'd be spending more time fixing our wonky pieces than making your own! Thank you!"

_**10b. Naboo, a Peaceful Planet**_

In the courtyard of the Palace, Padmé spoke to her prisoner. "Now, Viceroy, you're going to have to go back to the Senate and explain all this."

The Neimoidian didn't answer, instead choosing to merely look down to his feet.

"I think you can kiss your trade franchise goodbye," Panaka added.

A sleek Republic cruiser glided down into the square, from which emerged Supreme Chancellor Valorum and Senator Palpatine. Qui-Gon, with Obi-Wan and Anakin at either side, bowed to the Supreme Chancellor. Finis Valorum nodded in greeting, commending the Jedi on their triumph against their opponent.

Palpatine added, "We are indebted to you for your bravery, Knight Jinn, Padawan Kenobi. You have done Naboo a great service."

Obi-Wan didn't react to the Sith Lord's presence. He had just emerged from a gruelling duel against this man's apprentice. He wasn't at the top of his game, and well remembered the consequences of engaging the self-declared Emperor in battle. No, Obi-Wan was going to bide his time, thwart the Sith's plans, and remove Palpatine from power. "Your own performance in the Senate was found sadly lacking, though, Senator," he commented mildly, fully aware of the insult he was causing. "We could have avoided much loss of life if the conflict had been resolved on the floor of the Senate, rather than the cities of Naboo."

Anakin and Qui-Gon spared a surprised glance at Obi-Wan, but followed when he left the presence of the dignitaries without another word.

Valorum and Palpatine reached the Queen, and after the exchange of pleasantries, Padmé delivered the killing blow. "I find your efforts in the Senate sub par, so I am holding an election for a new Senator, within the month. You can expect to introduce your successor to the Senate four weeks from today."

As Palpatine gaped like a fish, groping for words to respond to this unexpected motion, Queen Amidala excused herself from Supreme Chancellor Valorum and joined her handmaidens on the other side of the square.

Obi-Wan joined the handmaidens and the Queen when Sabé called his name. "Jedi Kenobi, we'd like to give you a gift, to show our appreciation for everything you've done for us, and our planet," Padmé explained. Sabé handed him a small box, and Obi-Wan thanked them, opening it to see what lay within.

It was a brooch, designed of three interlocking pieces and studded with semiprecious jewels.

"The left was made by Padmé," Eirtaé said. "The zigzag pattern signifies courage, and the emerald and sapphire stones symbolise the colours of your lightsaber, and your Master's."

"The middle one Sabé made," Saché added. "It represents love, and the rubies and diamond show devotion, for the love of Naboo we all bear, and your own efforts to preserve that love." Obi-Wan looked into Sabé's eyes as the other handmaiden spoke, seeing their agreement in her eyes, as much as it hurt them both. _Love_, she seemed to say to him. _Love, but no attachment._

"The right was a collaborative effort between Saché and Eirtaé," Padmé continued. "It represents thanks. The amethyst and rose quartz form the shape of a flower, a traditional Nubian thank-you gift."

Obi-Wan raised his eyes from the beautiful piece of work. "Thank you," he told the young women, tears shining in his eyes. He'd never received such a personal gift before, and so hugged each of them in turn. When Sabé's turn came, he pressed a datachip into her hands, whispering, "call me."

Sabé stepped back from her hug, and said the last words they'd exchange before he left for home. "We wanted to give you something to remember us by, while you flit among the stars. If ever you need a place to stay, you will always be welcome on Naboo, or with any of us. Don't forget me," she finished in a small voice. Obi-Wan hugged her once more, then turned and left, to go home.

_**10c. To Be a Knight**_

Obi-Wan knelt in the centre of the Council Room. Twelve Masters surrounded him, lightsabers blazing in a ceremonial circle, and Mace Windu's deep voice reverberated around the room.

"You passed your Trials on Naboo, where you defeated not only the Sith warrior before you, but also the darkness within your own soul. This Council finds you worthy of the rank of Jedi Knight, which is hereby bestowed upon you, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Yoda moved forward, and delicately placed his green blade by Obi-Wan's ear. A slight movement separated Obi-Wan's Padawan braid from his head, and Yoda solemnly offered the severed strands to the new Knight.

Obi-Wan stood, taking the braid from Yoda with a word of thanks. "Master Qui-Gon?" he asked in a small voice.

His now ex-Master approached from the small crowd gathered beyond the Masters. Obi-Wan offered the delicate plait to him, tears in his eyes. Qui-Gon, fully understanding what this meant to the young Knight, accepted the braid solemnly. Many new Knights chose to give their Padawan braid to their Master, as a way of saying thank you, and it was a great honour to receive a new Knight's braid. Obi-Wan, when he'd originally been Knighted, had not had a smiling Master to give it to, and so had presented it to Master Yoda, where it had joined a collection that had been growing for eight hundred years.

Qui-Gon held the symbolic strands of severed hair in his hand tightly, thanking his Padawan through their training bond, the last time they would ever communicate in such an intimate manner.

'_No. Thank _you_,' _Obi-Wan insisted. _'Your training allowed me to become who I am today. For that, I thank you, my Master.'_

The circle of Council Masters shut off their lightsabers, signalling the end of the formal ceremony. Obi-Wan's old friends rushed forward to congratulate him on his Knighthood, and Obi-Wan lost himself in the joy of the moment. A tiny figure wrapped his arms around his waist tightly as he spoke to Bant Eerin, a Mon Calamari Jedi and one of Obi-Wan's best friends. He looked down to find Anakin with tears in his eyes, holding on to Obi-Wan for dear life.

"Who's this?" Bant asked him, not having met Anakin before.

Obi-Wan smiled. "This is Anakin Skywalker. Anakin, this is my best friend, Jedi Padawan Bant Eerin."

"I don't mean to be rude, but what are you?" Anakin asked, peering up at Bant from where he still had his arms wrapped around 'his Jedi'.

Bant chuckled. "I'm a Mon Cal. I imagine you wouldn't see too many of us on Tatooine – we're a water-dwelling species, I'd simply die if I spent too much time in the desert," she quipped.

"You should see her rooms here," Obi-Wan added. "They're so humid and wet that I'm surprised water doesn't start dripping from the ceiling!"

"I once was woken up by rain falling on my face," Bant confided. "Obi-Wan and Garen, one of our friends, had fiddled with the aircon settings. My poor Master woke up convinced she was still on our last mission, where it had rained every day, and spent twenty minutes trying to light a campfire with her hairbrush and a credit chip."

Anakin laughed, relaxing his grip on Obi-Wan's waist for a moment. "I like her," he informed Obi-Wan, before leaving to seek out Qui-Gon.

Bant looked deep into Obi-Wan's eyes as Anakin wound his way through the crowd. "You've changed," she observed sadly. "You're not the innocent Padawan I knew."

Obi-Wan nodded, looking down. "I'll tell you everything eventually. It's complicated."

Mere hours later, the Council room was being used for a much grimmer purpose. The celebrations for the newly Knighted Kenobi had moved to the quarters he shared with Qui-Gon, where he was _supposed _to be packing up his things in preparation of taking his own quarters. Knowing the Padawans, however, they had procured enough spirits for a party.

"A Sith, you believe he was, Master Jinn?" Yoda asked, seeking confirmation.

Qui-Gon nodded. "He was definitely a Sith."

"Always two, there are, no more, no less," Yoda sadly pronounced. "A Master, and an apprentice."

"But which was destroyed?" Mace asked rhetorically. "The Master, or the apprentice?"

Qui-Gon voiced a concern of his. "Obi-Wan believes him to have been the apprentice. He is not confidant that he could – that any Jedi could – face the Master in battle and survive."

The other Council Masters said nothing. Eventually, Qui-Gon asked about their decision concerning Anakin's training.

"Trained, he will be," Yoda answered. "To join the initiates, impossible it is, for he is too far behind in all areas. A Master he will need."

"I will train him. I take Anakin as my Padawan learner."

This time, Yoda nodded. "Granted, your request is. His Master, you shall become."


	12. Confessions

_Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilm._

_A/N: I recieved an anonymous review claiming that this story is similar to Shadows of the Future, another timetravel fic on this site. I won't claim that I haven't read it, or that it didn't influence my writing. I will, however, state that any parallels between the stories are unintentional and subconscious. While writing, I read as many timetravel fics as I could find, and Shadows of the Future was among them. I did this in the spirit of enjoyment and also research, feeling out what works and what doesn't. Then, I went ahead and planned my own. I don't intend to take away from Shadows of the Future, not only because it is far better than Sabotage of Sith's Revenge, but also because the similarities were unintentional. I watched TPM numerous times, choosing carefully the time when Obi-Wan would appear in the past, and found the one which made the most sense to me. I'm sorry if I've offended anyone who's read Shadows of the Future, or the author of it, as I also am a fan of that fantastic story._

_**11. Confessions**_

Obi-Wan had raised his mental shields shortly after dispatching Darth Maul. They'd been lowered during his Knighting ceremony, for that last emotional exchange with Qui-Gon, but Obi-Wan had raised them again as soon as he and Qui-Gon had closed the bond forever.

Now, he waited outside the Council chamber to be invited in.

The door eventually opened, and Obi-Wan proudly entered the familiar room.

"Masters," he acknowledged.

"Knight Kenobi," Master Windu returned in greeting.

"Wished to speak with us, you did?" Yoda asked, alluding to the fact that none of the Council knew why Obi-Wan was there.

"I have a confession to make, Masters. Concerning my vision," he added.

The Masters all nodded with polite interest. "Yes?" Ki-Adi-Mundi prompted.

"It wasn't a vision." Obi-Wan ignored the shocked expressions on the Masters faces. "I actually lived through it all."

Obi-Wan stood in the centre of the Council Chamber, looking at those Council Masters he knew and trusted during his time as a Master in the Clone Wars as he spoke.

"It all began when I was twenty-five, although the foundations were certainly laid earlier still. During the mission to Naboo, a Sith whom was later identified as Darth Maul confronted Qui-Gon on Tatooine, and later in the Palace of Theed. During the second confrontation, he revealed his lightsaber to be a dual-bladed saberstaff, and proved able to defend himself against both my Master and myself."

Ki-Adi-Mundi regarded Obi-Wan curiously, as if he were an Initiate confessing to have pulled a prank on Master Windu, with the air of 'I don't believe it for a moment' wafting from him, quite unconcealed from a powerful Jedi Master, though most Knights would never have noticed his disbelief.

"He managed to separate us, and while I was out of the way, he killed Qui-Gon. I almost fell to the Dark side as I took my revenge, when I killed him in return. Qui-Gon's dying wish was for me to train Anakin to be a Jedi, and though Master Yoda disagreed, the Council allowed me to train Anakin."

Yoda levelled his gaze at Obi-Wan, silently questioning the strange tense Obi-Wan used, though he didn't interrupt the Knight.

"Anakin's apprenticeship was rocky from start to finish. Anxious to prove himself worthy of becoming a Jedi Knight, Anakin was rash and impulsive. Myself, I was deep in mourning for my father-figure for the crucial beginning of our partnership, and was woefully unprepared to be a Padawan's Master. Anakin had never actually liked me, and I had never been his friend. From the moment we first met, I'd treated him as a temporary stray we happened to be taking to the Temple. When Anakin most needed a friend, after he'd been ripped away from everything familiar to him, and the only Jedi he knew had died, I was distant and unforgiving. By the time I realised this, years later, the damage was done. Anakin had turned elsewhere for acceptance, as within the Temple everyone knew him to be the Chosen One Qui-Gon had spent his life searching for."

Adi Gallia closed her eyes for a moment, to cover her reaction to hearing about Qui-Gon's Chosen One from ancient prophecy. _Why would the Jedi as a group treat the exuberant child as an outcast, while simultaneously expecting him to be the greatest of them all?_ her expression asked rhetorically.

"The one Anakin befriended, the one he trusted, was the Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who'd become Chancellor after cleverly tricking the young Nubian Queen into calling for a Vote of No Confidence in Valorum, and then had used thousands of sympathy votes to secure himself as Chancellor."

Mace Windu's brows rose, for he had been told of Palpatine's attempts to get someone else to call a Vote of No Confidence while on the Senate floor, and he realised that Palpatine had set up the entire Trade Federation's blockade of Naboo, and the subsequent events, to gain just those sympathy votes.

"Ten years after the Naboo incident, the Clone Wars began. Count Dooku had fallen to the Dark side as Sidious' apprentice, and he and his Confederacy of Independent Systems declared war on the Republic. The Clone Wars lasted for three years, and were fought across the galaxy, no planet escaping the destruction. So named for the clone army the Republic pitted against the Confederacy's droids, and with the Jedi transformed into Generals of the Republic, the Clone Wars slowly destroyed everything the Jedi hold dear, transforming us from peace-keepers into the most feared and legendary warriors of the Republic."

Yoda momentarily allowed an expression of sadness and mourning for his once-Padawan to cross his wrinkled visage, coupled with his mourning for the Jedi as a whole, whom he'd dedicated his entire life to.

"The Clone wars only ended with the betrayal of the clones, who suddenly opened fire on their Jedi Generals. I believe it was a direct order from the Supreme Chancellor, for the clones were fiercely loyal to their Jedi leaders, but would obey orders to a fault. Across the galaxy, Jedi fell in their thousands. On Coruscant, Anakin had fallen to the promise of saving his secret wife's life, at the cost of falling to the Dark side. Taking the name of Darth Vader, he entered the Jedi Temple and massacred the younglings and junior Padawans who were in residence."

Saesee Tiin stared, mouth hanging slightly open, as he looked into Obi-Wan's eyes and saw that what he said was the truth. Murdering adults was one thing, but to massacre children…

"He then went on to Mustafar, a volcanic planet, to deal with the Separatist leaders. I had narrowly escaped my troops on Utapau, due to the distance between us. Master Yoda had likewise survived, and escaped Kashyyk with the help of some Wookies, again due to physical distance between the troops and himself. We knew of no other Jedi survivors."

Yaddle looked down, holding back tears. She listened attentively, ears twitching, feeling the horrible truth of Obi-Wan's words through the Force. So many Jedi…

"Yoda went on to challenge the self-declared Emperor Palpatine, revealed as the Sith Lord Sidious, while I confronted Vader on Mustafar. I defeated Vader, but I believe that Yoda was killed, for Sidious immediately sought me out on Mustafar. Something strange happened, though, when Sidious should have killed me."

Mace Windu watched Obi-Wan, and didn't need his specific talents to show what the Force had known all along – Obi-Wan was a major shatterpoint of this whole disaster. He knew what the young Knight was going to say before he said it.

"The Force gave me a second chance. Rather than joining the Force, I found myself on Tatooine, in a Nubian cruiser. The Force felt smug, but most of all it was pure, unclouded by the Dark side. I was twenty-five again, my Master was by my side, my friends were alive, and the Jedi Order still stood."

Silence reigned for a few minutes. Obi-Wan dropped his shields, allowing the Masters to have a good look at his presence to validate his claims. Eventually Oppo Rancisis asked Obi-Wan if he knew how such a thing had occurred.

"I have a theory," Obi-Wan answered thoughtfully. "The Force, as you all know, is usually viewed in terms of light and dark, unifying, or living. My Master, and later, my apprentice, believed in the Living Force, while I supported the Unifying Force concept. Recently, I have come to formulate my own theory. I believe the Force is alive, and sentient, aware of events and able to take a hand in them itself when necessary. The Force serves those who serve it. The Sith betrayed it, by using it to gather ultimate power for themselves, using it to destroy lives, civilisations, the Republic and the Jedi Order.

"The Force brought me, a shatterpoint, the one Jedi who was most central to the Dark events yet was never aligned with the Sith, and whose knowledge of events was most complete, to, I believe, prevent the Sith from taking over the galaxy."

Yoda leaned back in his chair. "Begun this task already, you have." It wasn't a question.

Obi-Wan nodded. "A few well-placed words prevented Palpatine from becoming Chancellor, even deposing him from the Senate completely, and from noticing the existence of Anakin Skywalker. A hasty lesson in defending and attacking an opponent with a saberstaff saved Qui-Gon's life, along with my experience and determination to not be split up while duelling Darth Maul."

"You believe that he would have succeeded in destroying one or both of you if he'd faced you separately?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked delicately.

"Wholeheartedly. Now, Qui-Gon can train Anakin, and he feels accepted within the Temple – no-one knows of his midichlorian count, nor that he is the Chosen One Qui-Gon was searching for. Palpatine has not even noticed his existence, as he didn't become a hero in Naboo by accident. Also, he's not fallen in love with Amidala, due to being accepted as a friend by myself, the handmaidens Eirtaé and Saché and one of the pilots as well as the Queen herself. I believe the reason my Anakin fell to the Dark stemmed from his need to protect the one being who truly saw him as a person, not just a hero or a Chosen One from ancient prophecy."

_1557 words_


	13. A New Beginning

_Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilm._

_**12a. A New Beginning**_

"I hear you're no longer a Padawan," an insolent voice greeted Obi-Wan as he walked down a corridor towards his new quarters in the Jedi Temple. He grinned at the sight of Siri Tachi, a blonde human Jedi Padawan (not Master, he reminded himself), leaning against the door to her own shared quarters. "So?" she asked, looking down her nose at him. "Why'd Jinn dump you?"

Obi-Wan wasn't insulted in the least by Siri's jibes. He knew that she was fully aware he'd been Knighted, for she'd arrived back from a mission shortly after his ceremony to find the halls buzzing with news of his defeat of the Sith warrior. "Tachi," he returned, eyes flashing dangerously. Anakin, who'd come with Obi-Wan to 'help him settle in' (really he wanted the Knight to show him all the secrets of the Jedi Temple), stood awkwardly to the side, eyes flicking between the two humans, waiting for the first sign of danger.

Obi-Wan looked the young woman up and down, eventually settling his eyes on her own blue ones. "Getting soft? When was the last time you had a good thrashing?"

"Oh, it's been a while," she replied loftily. "Usually it's me doing the thrashing, you see."

As Anakin watched incredulously, the two human Jedi suddenly burst into laughter, hugging each other tightly. "It's been too long," Obi-Wan commented.

"It's only been a couple of months," the blonde laughed.

"Yes, but my last mission, at least, could very easily have proven deadly," Obi-Wan remarked soberly.

"I heard about the Sith warrior. Who's this?" she abruptly asked, noticing that Anakin wasn't just an Initiate passing through the corridor. Obi-Wan smiled, and placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder.

"Anakin Skywalker, meet Siri Tachi, one of my best friends."

"Pleased to meet you. Are you a Jedi too?" Anakin enthused.

Siri smiled. "I live in the Temple, I wear a lightsaber on my belt, I tease Obi-Wan about how I usually beat him when we spar, and then you ask if I'm a Jedi?" She laughed outright. "I like this one. He's not afraid to ask obvious questions. How old is he? If I'm Knighted before he turns thirteen, I may consider him for my Padawan."

"I'm nine," Anakin answered before Obi-Wan could. "And I'm already Master Qui-Gon's Padawan," he added proudly.

"Well he got over you soon enough," Siri deadpanned, looking at Obi-Wan.

"He just likes to be called Master. Since he's never going to make Council, a Padawan is the only way he'll be referred to as such," Obi-Wan confided, eyes dancing.

"Why's Master Qui-Gon never going to make Council?" Anakin asked, confusion colouring his tone.

Siri and Obi-Wan laughed. "He never follows the Code, and he always argues with them," Obi-Wan explained. "Rather like Siri, here."

In retaliation, she punched him in the arm, hard. Obi-Wan rubbed the bruise that was undoubtedly forming.

"So you actually killed the Sith? It's not just a rumour floating around?" Siri asked curiously.

"What, you don't believe it?" Obi-Wan returned, a teasing grin on his own lips.

Anakin was about to retaliate, defiantly stating Obi-Wan's heroics, but Siri spoke first. "Well, if you did, seeing how I _always_ beat you in training, theoretically that means I could defeat a Sith."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "Want to put that to the test? I'll meet you in the largest training room, the one with the audience space, in an hour. Then we'll see if you _always_ beat me."

Siri rose to the challenge majestically, stretching from her relaxed pose against the doorframe to her full height (which was still a few centimetres shy of Obi-Wan's unimpressive height). "You're on. Be prepared to be humiliated, Sith's Bane."

"Oh, I don't think so," Obi-Wan said, and then flinched, as if the words brought back a bad memory. Trying to repress his memories of Dooku and Grievous, Obi-Wan pressed on with aggravating his friend. "What's with the outfit? You look like you've been dragged through a nest of Krayt Dragons _and _Gundarks."

Siri gasped, and spluttered in mock outrage. "How dare you! I'll have you know this is the height of fashion on Corellia at the moment," she fumed, gesturing to her outfit. She wore a dark brown singlet underneath a loose, ripped _thing_ which may or may not have once been a black tee shirt, and her cargo pants were likewise ripped and frayed. A long thin scratch ran the length of her boot.

Obi-Wan simply raised a single eyebrow.

Anakin, seeing that the two actually were fond of each other, resisted the urge to chuckle inappropriately.

Siri threw up her hands in disgust. "I don't care if you like my clothes or not. One hour, Kenobi." She pointed one finger threateningly towards him. "One hour til you get dumped on your behind, and my reputation increases even more than yours has."

"As you wish, milady," Obi-Wan returned, sweeping into an elegant bow more appropriate for acquiescing to the orders of a Queen. "Shall I collect a training 'saber from Master Yoda, so you won't lose a hand? Or a head?"

Obi-Wan turned, and Anakin followed, looking back at the murderous glare Siri directed at the Knight. "This isn't over, Oafy-Wan!" she called. "You'll have that nickname back by the time I've finished with you!"

Obi-Wan laughed it off, and as they turned a corner, Anakin was sure he heard peals of laughter coming from where they'd left the blonde.

"Is she always so…" Anakin searched for the words to finish his question.

Obi-Wan smiled down to him, and answered, "She's a lovely girl, really, but it's so easy to provoke her. We enjoy a good fight now and then. One of these days, she'll surprise me by having a normal conversation."

Anakin followed Obi-Wan to his new quarters, where they dropped the two bags Obi-Wan had placed his belongings into on the kitchenette's bench. Obi-Wan unzipped the one he'd been carrying, and tipped an array of toiletries onto the bench, and a pile of once-neatly-folded clothing fell out on top. Obi-Wan searched through the haphazard pile for something, eventually finding a small, fine-toothed comb.

"Anakin," he began, and the nine-year-old attentively listened. "This is my comb, but as I no longer have a Padawan braid to maintain, I have no use for it. Would you like to have it?"

Anakin's face split into a wide grin. "Please!" he replied, and examined it when Obi-Wan handed it over. "What's it made of? It's beautiful!"

Obi-Wan chuckled. To him, the comb had always been merely a piece of equipment, one he usually went without in the field. He remembered giving it to Anakin in his past life, but the boy had not cared at all, merely using it when he had to fix his braid, which Obi-Wan had rarely touched. Looking at it now, though, Obi-Wan saw that it was beautiful, in an ordinary kind of way.

It shimmered in the sunlight, not quite black but not quite grey. It was just a comb, something every Padawan owned and used, yet Anakin thought it special because he'd gifted it to him. "It's just plasteel. Your hair is similar to mine – very fine, and easily tangled if treated wrongly. I always found plasteel combs would remove knots from my braid without statically charging my hair. Siri learned the importance of using the right comb the hard way – she borrowed her Master's comb, and ended up with hair so frizzy and charged that it actually sparked when she held an ignited lightsaber too close. Don't tell her I told you that, though!" Anakin joined Obi-Wan's laughter, imagining the blonde Padawan with sparking, frizzy hair.

Anakin helped Obi-Wan put away his belongings, listening to him speak fondly of the stories behind a multitude of items, given to him as gifts after he'd successfully completed missions. A little brooch caught Anakin's attention, and Obi-Wan identified it as being a gift from the Nubian queen and her handmaidens from his last mission.

"It symbolises courage, love, and thanks. I'm going to put it in a glass case, to be on display in the sitting room," Obi-Wan added, tenderly placing the brooch, back in its box, on the counter.

_**12b. To Accept a Challenge**_

Word had somehow gotten around the Temple that Siri Tachi had challenged Obi-Wan Kenobi, the newly Knighted Sith's Bane himself, to a duel.

As Anakin followed Obi-Wan into the training salle, he gaped at the sheer size of it. It was at least as large as the Throne Room in Theed Palace, and though only a few square metres of space was marked out as an arena, the whole room had a soft, spongy floor. Anakin assumed that this was a safety feature, so that a fall would not injure a Jedi while training.

Obi-Wan told Anakin to go and sit with Bant, and Anakin noticed the Mon Calamari Padawan waving to them from her seat in the last row of the viewing stands. Anakin waved back, then hurried over to the nice Jedi. As he passed the pews, he realised that the spectators were all Jedi, as each wore a lightsaber on his or her belt. He even recognised a couple of Council Masters, including the little green alien he'd been told was Master Yoda, the most venerated Master in the Jedi Order.

The blonde Siri entered the room shortly after Anakin greeted Bant and sat beside her. Qui-Gon followed the girl in, and whispered something to her as he passed. Siri nodded, and looked thoughtful. Anakin wondered what the exchange was about, and asked his Master when Qui-Gon sat down on his other side. "I was just warning her to expect the unexpected," he explained ambiguously, not sating Anakin's curiosity in the slightest.

Siri and Obi-Wan, in the centre of the room, were eyeing each other off, lightsabers in hand but unignited. Anakin noticed that, much like Obi-Wan, Siri had changed clothes, and now wore a flexible tight fitting black tunic and leggings rather than the loose, ripped casual garments she'd worn earlier.

"Rules?" Obi-Wan asked loudly, for the benefit of the audience gathered in the back few pews of the room.

"To the death," Siri declared in response. Anakin tugged on his Master's tunic in worry.

Qui-Gon leaned down to quietly explain to Anakin, "that means until one of them fails to block a killing blow. They've done this before, and won't hurt each other. Usually it ends with a lightsaber to one or the other's throat, though there was one memorable duel where Siri cut Obi-Wan's lightsaber in half, and then they spent the next ten minutes wrestling over possession of her blade. No-one ever decided who had won that match."

A few challenging words Anakin couldn't hear passed between the pair, then Siri leapt at Obi-Wan, lightsaber flashing purple as she swung at the Knight's head.

Anakin grasped Qui-Gon's hand in his right and Bant's in his left as Obi-Wan ignited his blue blade, blocking Siri's attack.

To Anakin's amateur eye, they seemed fairly well matched, but eventually Anakin noticed that Obi-Wan employed a more varied style of combat than Siri did. He voiced this thought to Qui-Gon, who informed him that Siri was using Ataru, Form IV, while Obi-Wan used Soresu, Form III, and a smattering of the other six forms.

Anakin gasped and shuddered as the pair of humans hacked away at each other's defence, and realised exactly why no-one was watching from the front few rows of benches when Obi-Wan leapt up onto one, announcing that he had the high ground and had won, his blade hovering centimetres from Siri's throat, pointed straight at her.

"Don't do it, Siri! I've won, it's over."

Siri, however, was determined to win. She leapt forward recklessly, and Obi-Wan suddenly threw himself backwards, his lightsaber forgotten as it fell to the floor. Siri landed on a bench, utterly confused, as Obi-Wan fell, draped over the benches, for all appearances caught in a nightmare, despite having been awake and fighting a duel moments earlier.

"_You were the Chosen One! You were supposed to bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!"_

Siri froze, wide eyed, her own lightsaber falling to the floor. Anakin, on the other side of the room, stared at his idol. Obi-Wan thrashed around, and the Masters present moved towards the fallen Knight.

Those words rang a bell in Anakin's mind, as if he'd heard them before.

Obi-Wan shouted again, as Siri approached, and Masters Yoda and Qui-Gon held back for the terror to pass. "_You were my brother! I loved you,"_ he called, and Anakin started as he remembered where he'd heard this before. It was from Obi-Wan's visions, and Anakin ran down through the crowd of concerned Jedi to reach his friend.

Anakin pushed past Masters, Knights and Padawans, and squirmed his way between Qui-Gon and Siri as they attempted to rouse the Knight. Placing a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder, Anakin said words which seemed to come straight from the Force itself. "Obi-Wan," he began, "I'm right here with you. I've not fallen, and you've not lost everyone who ever meant anything to you. Wake up, Obi-Wan. This isn't that world, the one of your visions. Come back to the here and now, where those who love you surround you. You're not alone, Obi-Wan, not anymore."

To everyone's surprise, the young Knight stilled, and opened his eyes. He blinked a few times, trying to focus on reality.

"Obi-Wan?" Siri asked hesitantly.

"Siri?" he replied foggily. "Why do you look like Anakin?"

Anakin, from his place in the centre of Obi-Wan's vision, grinned. "Hi there, Obi-Wan. You scared us for a second, there."

"Sorry. It brought back some bad memories. Last time someone did that…" Obi-Wan trailed off, and Qui-Gon exchanged a concerned glance with Yoda and Mace Windu. "I had to use a _Mou Kai."_

Siri helped Obi-Wan sit up, and Bant, who'd finally forced her way through the crowd, checked him over while Qui-Gon supported him.

Mace ordered the majority of the spectators out, allowing only Qui-Gon, Anakin, Siri, Bant and Yoda to stay. Obi-Wan slowly regained his sense of reality, and in a disbelieving voice asked, "Anakin?" he swivelled his head, saying each Jedi's name as he gazed at them. Siri and Bant were worried sick, as was Anakin himself.


	14. Old Friends are Gold and Gems

_Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilm._

_**13. Old Friends Are Gold and Gems**_

Obi-Wan tried to maintain conscious thought. There was no lava, no Darth Vader, no Darth Sidious. He was safe, and surrounded by his friends. He was looking into the worried faces of Bant, Siri and nine-year-old Anakin, not the hateful, burned, defeated visage of Darth Vader.

Rationally, Obi-Wan realised that he had reacted traumatically to Siri using the same desperate move that Vader had tried on Mustafar before his dismemberment and subsequent demise. He realised that Siri was lucky, and unaware of the danger she had put her limbs in. If he had reacted physically, rather than mentally, Siri would right now be fighting for her life in the Temple Medcentre.

Obi-Wan realised that he was leaning against his old Master, and felt Yoda's efforts through the Force to siphon away Obi-Wan's visions.

"There is something you must know. Siri, Bant, Anakin… there's a lot about me you know nothing of. But if something happens to me, I know that the Council will watch and wait, not acting but reacting, and all will be lost."

Yoda broke the worried silence. "Go to a private room, you should. Padawan Eerin, you are tasked with ensuring Knight Kenobi's health. Padawan Tachi, Padawan Skywalker, a lot to learn from your friend, you have. A long story to tell, Obi-Wan has."

Bant and Siri pulled Obi-Wan to his feet, and Qui-Gon released him to the support of his comrades. Anakin followed the three friends out of the training hall, with a concerned glance to his Master, who encouraged him to accompany Obi-Wan.

They eventually reached what Anakin guessed was either Bant or Siri's apartment, and the young women lowered the Knight to a couch. Bant sat beside him, and Anakin tucked himself into Obi-Wan's other side. Siri fell down into an armchair, and the silence was finally broken by Obi-Wan.

"I didn't want to tell Anakin, for fear that he would believe himself destined, or think he is Dark inside. But I can't keep this secret from my best friends. I never had a vision on Tatooine. I experienced something unheard of, the Force itself put me on a mission which may take my life and many others besides. You know that Qui-Gon believed there was a Chosen One who would bring balance to the Force." Siri and Bant nodded, but Anakin remained silent. He had heard the words, but did not understand the meaning.

"This One does exist. In fact, he's our Anakin."

Bant gasped, and Siri's eyes widened. Anakin asked, "What does that mean?"

Obi-Wan looked down to Anakin. "It means that, if people find out, they will expect you to do things that no-one can do. They will expect you to be a better Jedi than any raised at the Temple from infancy. It means that you will bring balance to the Force."

Anakin nodded, though he didn't really understand. So he was special? He was different from the other Jedi?

"I came back from a terrible future, where Qui-Gon died on Naboo, Anakin was left to be trained by me, who was not ready for a Padawan, and was barely prepared for Knighthood. Anakin was noticed by the Sith Lord, and though I killed his apprentice after he'd killed Qui-Gon, he simply trained another. He kept his eye on Anakin for his entire adolescence, poisoning him against the Jedi, who treated him as an outsider more often than not. I can't say I was blameless, for I unintentionally kept Anakin at arm's length, when what he needed was a loving environment."

"You came back from the future?" Siri asked, bewildered.

"Let him talk, he'll explain it in time," Bant chided. "Obi-Wan?"

He took a deep breath. "Anakin fell to the Dark Side, he became a Sith. There was a galactic civil war, in which the Jedi had become Generals of a clone army, and in an instant, when Anakin became Darth Vader, thousands of Jedi Knights, Masters and Senior Padawans were cut down by their own troops. Master Yoda and I survived by chance, and rendezvoused on a trusted Senator's spacecraft. I don't know if any others survived."

Tears leaked down Bant's cheeks, while Anakin sniffled. Siri, ever the strong one, reached out to pat Obi-Wans shoulder in a gesture of support.

"Anakin, now Darth Vader, went to the Jedi Temple. He killed everyone there, from the few Masters still on Coruscant to the smallest infants in their cradles. Yoda and I saw a security holovid of some of it, and then Sidious sent him to take care of the leaders of one side of the war, to murder them on Mustafar. Yoda engaged Sidious in a duel while I fought my old apprentice, and now my mortal enemy."

By now, even strong Siri had tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I gained the high ground, and Anakin tried the same move Siri began today. I did what I had to, and cut off his left arm and both legs in a single motion. Defeated and dying, he lay on the bank of a lava flow, his mechanical hand – the original had been lost duelling the previous Sith apprentice – grappling for purchase on the black sand. I left him there, burning, and he yelled that he hated me. I still loved him, or what he had been, and I told him that he was my brother, and I'd loved him. I told him that he was the Chosen One, he'd known since he joined the Jedi, and that meant he was to bring balance to the Force, but all he'd done was darken both it and the galaxy."

Anakin buried his face in Obi-Wan's tunic. Obi-Wan continued to speak, rubbing comforting circles into Anakin's back.

"Yoda must not have succeeded, for Sidious sought me out on that fiery death trap of a planet. We duelled, the Last Jedi Master and the Last Sith Master, and he wore me down, for the Dark offers unlimited power, while I was relying on duty and honour and determination to do the right thing to keep me alive. But I had nothing to live for, and I was exhausted already. He overcame me, and I fell into the lava, to join my family, the Jedi Order, in the Force, which had become tainted by the Sith."

"You died?" Anakin asked hollowly, while Bant hugged Obi-Wan tightly.

"I died. But when I'd accepted my failure, the Force did the most unexpected thing. It somehow brought me back to life, in a place and time where I could make a difference. I realised that the relationships between people were the cause of the Jedi Order's fall, and the Sith's rising, and have been attempting to create and maintain strong bonds of trust and friendship with all whom I hold dear. I admit that I meddled in your life, Anakin, and that I still am. I ensured that you wouldn't become a hero of Naboo, so that Palpatine would never notice you or your potential. I made sure that no-one at the Temple knew that you were anything but an ordinary Padawan who started training late. I also made certain that Palpatine would not become Supreme Chancellor."

"You did the right thing Obi-Wan," Bant asserted through her tears.

"Why is it so important that Palpatine not notice Anakin? And that he not become Chancellor? Siri wondered.

Obi-Wan looked deep into her eyes, and said with chilling clarity, "Palpatine is Darth Sidious. We have to destroy him."

"I will be beside you every step of the way, Obi-Wan," Siri vowed. Bant agreed, and Anakin said he'd help as much as he could.

"Who knows?" Bant asked.

"I've only told the Council, Qui-Gon, and you three. The Queen and one of her handmaidens suspect that I have a higher mission than to protect their planet, but have not guessed at its importance. I will not let the Jedi Order fall again."

"The rule of no attachments?" Siri said, voicing an incomplete thought. "You know that attachments lead to the Dark."

"Attachment and love are two different things. One can love another without being possessive, much like one can have best friends or Masters and Padawans without being possessive. I am going to reform the Order into something that will survive the coming storm, and will be able to remove the threat of the Sith once and for all."

With that mission in mind, four Jedi began the task of a lifetime – to reform the Jedi Order, and to destroy the Legacy of the Sith.

_**Epilogue. The Price of Freedom**_

Bant followed her Master, Kit Fisto, off the transport, and into the dry, desolate desert of Mos Eisley Spaceport.

The Mon Calamari and the Nautolan stood out starkly against the multitude of desert-dwelling species inhabiting Tatooine. Bant glanced around nervously, already feeling her skin dry in the heat of the twin suns.

"Master," she began, shrinking away from the salacious leers of a pair of Dugs, "I don't think we are in the right place. How could a child as sweet as Anakin grow up here?"

Kit turned to face her for a moment, before returning his attention to the patrons of the spaceport and its adjoining cantina. "He didn't live in the Cantina, Bant. We need to find Watto's junk shop. It shouldn't be too difficult, he's a Toydarian so we'll be able to ask around." With that, the Jedi Master approached a pair of (in Bant's opinion, thuggish) pilots, one a Besalisk and the other a human.

"What you want, Jedi?" the Besalisk slurred as Kit stopped at their table. Kit smiled benevolently.

"I'm looking for a junk dealer, a Toydarian by the name of Watto. Do you know where his shop is located?"

"Watto, eh?" the human asked. The Besalisk laughed, and went back to his drink. The human looked Bant up and down, decided not to try anything as his eyes lit upon her blatantly displayed lightsaber, and then gave the pair vague directions to find Watto's shop.

By the time they finally reached the junk dealership, Bant had taken to keeping one hand on the hilt of her lightsaber as she walked, and glaring with fierce silver eyes at anyone who so much as glanced at her.

She and her Master stepped into the welcome shade of the junk shop, and were greeted by a human woman. "Hello. What are you looking for today, Master Jedi?" she smiled, looking up from polishing a droid.

Kit answered, "I'd like to speak to your master. I have a proposition to make."

"He's out back, looking over the pod." She waved Kit through, and so the Nautolan went through the back exit to bake once more in the dry sun of the back yard.

Bant approached the woman shyly. "Hi, miss. I'm Bant Eerin, Jedi Padawan."

"Shmi Skywalker," the woman introduced herself. Bant's heart leapt – they had indeed found the right place.

"You're not the first Jedi who's come by recently," Shmi mused. Bant grinned.

"Oh, you met Master Jinn?"

"Indeed. There was actually another, though he didn't look like a Jedi, who left empty handed. Name was Vos, I think."

Bant looked down. So Quinlan Vos had indeed tried to free Shmi already, unsuccessfully. "Do you know what he'd been looking for?"

"I think it was the pod," Shmi confided. "Because he didn't have enough money, and that was the pod my son won the Boonta Eve Classic in. It's worth a lot, and Watto wants to get the most out of it he can."

"I've met your son. He's a sweet kid."

"Oh? So he did become a Jedi after all. I knew that Jinn would keep his word," the slave woman truly smiled then, knowing her son was making a better life for himself.

Bant met her eyes. "He did. In fact, Master Jinn is now training Anakin as his own Padawan."

Shmi's eyes shone with tears of joy. Bant couldn't help but smile in return.

A noise from the back caught the women's attention, and Kit strolled into the store as if he owned the place, followed by Watto who was flitting around, flustered, as he protested the unfairness of whatever Kit had done.

"Bant, we're leaving. We're taking either the pod or the girl, I don't care which. You're choice." With that, the Jedi Master strode out of the shop, leaving Watto flabbergasted and silent behind him.

Bant turned to Watto, eyes cold. "I have no use for a racing pod. I'm taking the slave. Where's her remote?"

Shmi stood still, looking betrayed, and Bant attempted to ignore her, focussing on intimidating Watto. The Toydarian finally caved, handing over a slave's remote, which Bant took sharply, and then Bant left the store, calling behind her, "Shmi! We're leaving."

They walked through Mos Eisley quickly, Bant and Kit almost jogging as they could feel their skin drying up in the desert atmosphere. Shmi followed silently, and no-one spoke until they all arrived on board the mercifully humid ship the Jedi had initially arrived in.

Kit placed himself in the pilot's chair and began sequences for takeoff, while Bant turned to the silent Shmi.

"I'm sorry about that, Shmi. You wouldn't happen to know which button on this thing is the one that releases you?"

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_A/N: So, we've reached the end. Here's to hoping you've all enjoyed my little tale, and I'd just like to say a huge THANK YOU to all who put Sabotage on your Favourites or Story Alert list, and especially to all those who reviewed. Any and all comments are appreciated, especially if you include ways for me to improve._


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